


Somebody is Digging My Bones

by redwineandqueer



Category: Jurassic Park - All Media Types, Schitt's Creek
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alexis Rose is a Badass, Angst, Bondage, Crack Treated Seriously, Dinosaurs, Dirty Talk, F/M, Face-Fucking, General Dinosaur Mayhem, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Post-Canon, Rimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:55:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 44,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28227981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redwineandqueer/pseuds/redwineandqueer
Summary: “I have conditions,” David says, his face settling into a look of determination that’s at odds with his flushed skin and breathless voice. “And not only about limiting sexy roleplay to times when my sister isn’t in the same hotel as us.”Feeling a smile tug at the corners of his mouth, Patrick gestures for David to continue.“Okay. One, I am not watching any dinosaurs eat any other dinosaurs. I draw the line at watching giant lizard cannibalism.”Patrick thinks he could watch David rant all day long and never get bored with the incredible variety of expressions that pass over his face. “So I don’t think it counts as cannibalism if the dinosaurs are different species. And I'm pretty sure they’re not considered lizards anymore.”****************Alexis is doing PR for Jurassic World and is offered a free weekend trip to the park. She brings David, Patrick, and Stevie with her. Things go about as well as you'd expect.
Relationships: Alexis Rose & David Rose, Patrick Brewer/David Rose, Stevie Budd & David Rose, Stevie Budd & Patrick Brewer, Theodore "Ted" Mullens/Alexis Rose
Comments: 130
Kudos: 121





	1. The Phone Call

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is a crossover between Schitt's Creek and Jurassic Park. Because it's 2020 and what says Christmas more than a crossover between a technoscience blockbuster and a Canadian sitcom? 
> 
> A few notes:
> 
> 1\. This is almost completely written. I was going to wait until I was totally done to start posting but we're heading back into lockdown later this week and I figured why not?
> 
> 2\. I will be updating on Mondays and Fridays. 
> 
> 3\. This is, first and foremost, a Schitt's Creek fic. If you're here for the dinosaur content, be aware that I'm taking a great many liberties with scientific accuracy and Jurassic Park canon. Basically, the new movies are only relevant for the fact that Jurassic World exists and it's open to the public. 
> 
> 4\. The violence is canon-typical for Jurassic Park. There are no graphic descriptions of human or dinosaur harm or death. If you need any specifics, please contact me and I'd be happy to provide details (I'm @redwineandqueer on Tumblr). 
> 
> Title is from Dinosaur by King Crimson.

They’re just getting a good rhythm going when David’s phone rings. 

Groaning in frustration, Patrick detaches his lips from where they’ve been sucking a bruise into David's neck. On his lap, David shifts and slides his hand around Patrick’s neck, pulling him back in with a groan. 

“Ignore it, it’s probably just Jocelyn about the fucking costumes again.” David punctuates his plea with a sharp bite to Patrick’s earlobe. 

With effort, Patrick pulls his mind away from thoughts of necks and lips and teeth and gently pushes David back until there are a few inches of space between them. “Or it could be Stéfy. It’s only her second shift alone at the store.” 

As always, the thought of something going wrong at the store works like a charm. David’s eyes widen and he reaches over Patrick’s shoulder to grab his phone from the table behind the couch. Glancing at the screen, his lips pull inward in confusion. 

“It’s Alexis,” David says, sitting back on Patrick’s lap. Patrick shifts, trying to be inconspicuous, but that's basically impossible with their bodies pressed so close together. David is smirking at him as he answers the call. “Hello?” 

If his voice comes out a bit more high-pitched than usual, Patrick can’t blame him. Alexis is supposed to be spending all day in meetings with “like a huge new potential client, this could be _such_ a good journey for me!” and they hadn’t expected to hear from her until later that night. 

“Congratulations, Alexis,” David says, his voice returning to normal and his hand making its way back into Patrick’s hair. Patrick leans into the sensation and lets David’s voice drift over him. 

It’s one of the first weekdays they’ve had off together, well, ever, and they’ve been taking full advantage. After fucking Patrick into the mattress that morning, David had gone out to his studio in their recently renovated shed to keep working on the costumes he’s designing for the production of _Annie_ that Jocelyn is putting on _._ Despite the show still being a good three months away and his constant complaints about the torment of being forced to work with children, Patrick knows how seriously David is taking his position as both set and costume designer. Obsessively researching 1930’s fashion, scouring vintage clothing sites online, and sourcing period-appropriate furniture have become David’s new bedtime rituals. 

Knowing that David would be out there for at least a couple of hours, Patrick had been trying to get some work done on the couch. The end-of-quarter was coming up and this was the first time he’s had to account for employee wages. He’d been so intent on making sure he wasn’t making any mistakes that he didn’t hear David come back in until he’d felt long fingers running through his hair. Smiling, Patrick had turned his head up for a kiss that had quickly devolved into the gloriously sloppy make-out session that had just started heating up when the phone rang. 

A note of panic creeping into David’s voice snaps Patrick back to the present. 

“You want us to do _what_?” David’s eyebrows do impressive but incomprehensible things in response to Patrick’s curious head tilt. 

“No, no, no, no, no. No. We will not be doing anything of the sort, Alexis. I don’t _do_ animals. With the obvious exception of Coco, of course.” Hearing her name, their two-year-old Bernerdoodle raises her head to look over at them. “But I especially refuse to get anywhere near those crimes against the natural order!” 

Starting to get an inkling about what might be going on, Patrick makes a grab for the phone. David squirms away, almost overbalancing in his attempt to keep ahold of the phone. Before he can fall, Patrick catches him around the waist and pulls him back into his lap, raising his eyebrows pointedly. With a huff, David gives in and hands him the phone. 

Patrick hits the speaker in time to catch Alexis mid-rant.

“- not _crimes against the natural order,_ David! Some of them are actually super cute! And besides, it’s all expenses paid! And they’re putting us up at the Hilton Resort which has a spa and two three-star Michelin restaurants! For free David!”

When she pauses to take a breath, Patrick takes his chance and interrupts. 

“Sorry Alexis, can you repeat that from the beginning? _Someone_ -” David rolls his eyes “- was trying to keep your good news a secret.”

“Okay, I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret. It’s just that -”

“Patrick! Oh yay! You’re going to appreciate this so much more than David! He has like no sense of adventure.”

“I can still hear you, Alexis!”

Alexis ignores him. “So you know that big client I was meeting today? Well, I couldn’t say anything before now but it was the Masrani Corporation and they want me to do some PR for Jurassic World!” 

“Wow, Alexis! That’s incredible! We’re both so proud of you,” Patrick replies with a pointed look at David. 

“Of course we’re proud! I never said we weren’t proud! Just because I don’t want to -”

Alexis interrupts David again, much to his very vocal annoyance. “Thank you _so much_ , Patrick! This is why you’re my favourite brother.” 

Another inarticulate noise from David. Patrick slides his hand up under David’s sweater and rubs his lower back in soothing circles while Alexis continues.

“And the best part is they want me to come, like, ‘experience the adventure’ or whatever. So they’re giving me four all-expenses-paid tickets for next weekend! And since you guys are all boring workaholics now and you need some excitement in your lives, you’re coming with me!” 

“Do you remember the last time you thought our relationship needed some excitement, Alexis? I almost died forty feet up in the air while doing _physical exercise_!” 

“That wasn’t my fault, David!”

Before they can start in on this particular argument again, Patrick quickly redirects the conversation. “How many days is this for, Alexis? Because it sounds amazing but David and I can only leave the store alone for so long.”

“That’s the best part! It’s for five days but it works out perfectly! I know you guys always close on Victoria Day and David was just saying that you’ve been meaning to take a few days off. I already called Jocelyn and asked if she’d help Stéfy with the store -”

“You called _Jocelyn_? About _my_ _store_?”

“Our store.”

“About _our store?_ Why would you do that?”

“Because, David, I know how hard it is to get you two to do anything spontaneous! You need some fun in your lives and I think this would be a really good thing for you!”

“Okay, since when are you so concerned with whether or not we’re having fun? What’s going on, Alexis?”

“Nothing David! Can’t I just care about my brothers?” It’s Alexis’ turn to huff out a breath. “Like, I just thought - you guys have been working so hard with the store and I know you had your honeymoon last winter but you haven’t had a vacation since then and I just thought it would be nice, okay?” Her voice gets lower and quieter as she speaks until it’s as uncertain as Alexis ever sounds. 

David’s face has that pinched look it gets when he’s touched but trying very hard not to admit it. “Okay,” he whispers, utterly failing at keeping his emotions out of his voice. “What exactly does this vacation entail?”

Patrick stares at his husband with what he knows is a dopey look as they listen to Alexis explain the hotel’s amenities. Ten months of marriage and three years together and every day Patrick has a new favourite thing about David Rose. Yesterday, he’d laid in bed and watched David’s hands as they flew through the air trying to sketch out his ideas for the design of Daddy’s Warbucks’ mansion and Patrick had thought then that David’s incredible creativity was his favourite thing. The day before that, it had most definitely been his fingers. And today, his favourite thing about his husband is how deeply he feels things. No matter how hard he tries, David just can’t keep the depth of his feelings for the people he loves off his face. And every time he tries and fails, Patrick thinks he falls a little bit more in love.

David, of course, notices his staring and returns his dopey grin with a small, shy smile. Patrick can’t help himself, reaching out and trailing his fingers gently along David’s cheekbone. He knows David is happy in Schitt’s Creek - knows it with the same certainty that had propelled him up a mountain and onto one knee. But David had struggled in the months after his family left town - the closeness they’d developed living in the motel not able to entirely erase the years of distance that had come before. Getting to spend an entire weekend with his sister would go a long way toward easing the pain of that separation. 

And, if it would also go a long way toward easing the guilt Patrick has been feeling about keeping his husband away from his family, then that’s just a bonus. 

The moment is broken when something in Alexis’s recitation of the resort’s amenities catches David’s attention. 

“Oh my god, what the fuck is a _prehistoric mud wrap_? That sounds like some kind of deeply disgusting sex act.”

“Seriously, David, that’s the only thing you care about? Ugh! Not the Michelin-rated restaurant, not the seven pools, not the actual _dinosaurs_ , not -” 

Smirking up at David, Patrick interrupts. “Come on Alexis, you know none of that is important when the name of a spa treatment is _incorrect_.” 

“Okay,” David looks like he’s gearing up for an expressive rant. Patrick quickly continues.

“But we both want to thank you so much for inviting us. We do need to take a minute to talk about it and make sure it’s do-able with the store. But I, for one, would love to go if we can make it work. So why don’t we talk and then we’ll call you back in a couple of hours?” 

“Oh yay, Patrick, yay!” 

“We haven’t said yes yet, Alexis! And I’m still not convinced you don’t have an ulterior motive!”

“I know what “we’ll talk and call you back” means David! And I know you’re incapable of saying no to that cute little button face! I’ll send you the flight details.” Patrick notes that she doesn’t even acknowledge the other half of David’s objection. 

“Alexis!”

But Alexis has already hung up. David turns his incredulous glare on Patrick. 

“Do you know what you just did? Now she’s never going to tell me what’s really going on!” 

Chuckling, Patrick runs his hands up David’s back and wraps them around his neck. “You know you’re not going to find out what’s going on until she’s good and ready. And this way, we get a free vacation out of it.” He pulls David’s head down until he can press their lips together. 

Grumbling into the kiss, David slides his hands back into Patrick’s hair. Patrick lets his mouth fall open and sucks David’s lower lip between his teeth making him moan. He bites down sharply, immediately soothing the sting with his tongue before pulling back to look into David’s slightly-glazed eyes. 

“Alexis aside, I think this could be good for us. Like it or not, she’s right - we’ve both been working non-stop since the honeymoon and this is a really good time to take a few days off. Stéfy can cover the store for a couple of days. And with Victoria Day and our usual Sunday off, that means we’d really only be missing a day.”

David still looks hesitant so Patrick offers some extra enticement. He nips at David’s ear lobe and whispers in his ear. 

“Remember that fantasy you’ve been having? Where I’m the one with all the experience and you’re the one who's never even kissed a man?” Patrick licks his way up David’s neck, dropping a kiss on his favourite spot. “So I get to introduce you to all the -” he bites down and David moans “ - pleasure you’ve been missing?” David is squirming on his lap, hands clutching almost painfully at Patrick’s shoulders. Patrick slides his hand up to David’s hair, grabs a handful, and _pulls_. David lets out a gasping whine, grinding down in a way that has sparks shooting off behind Patrick’s eyes. “Seems like a hotel bar would be the perfect place to play out that scenario, don’t you?” 

David whimpers. “You don’t play fair.” 

Smiling against the bruise he’s sucking into David’s collarbone, Patrick hums. “Mmm-hmm. And you love it, baby.” 

With what seems like a lot of effort, David gets his hands in between them and pushes Patrick back so he can look him in the face. 

“I have conditions,” David says, his face settling into a look of determination that’s at odds with his flushed skin and breathless voice. “And not only about limiting sexy roleplay to times when my _sister_ isn’t in the same hotel as us.” 

Feeling a smile tug at the corners of his mouth, Patrick gestures for David to continue. 

“Okay. One, I am _not_ watching any dinosaurs eat any other dinosaurs. I draw the line at watching giant lizard cannibalism.” 

Patrick thinks he could watch David rant all day long and never get bored with the incredible variety of expressions that pass over his face. “So I don’t think it counts as cannibalism if the dinosaurs are different species. And I'm pretty sure they’re not considered lizards anymore.” He rubs David’s thighs where they’re bracketing his hips. 

“Mmm, okay, no - that brings me to my other condition.”

“Just the one more?”

“For now,” David sniffs haughtily and Patrick is unable to keep his grin under wraps. “My other condition is that I am _not_ going on this trip to _learn facts_ about _dinosaurs_ . I do not care about dinosaurs. They’re old and gross and they _eat people,_ Patrick.”

“I think that was just the twice.”

“Twice is too many times!” David pauses, visibly trying to wrangle his thoughts into order while Patrick strokes his hair patiently. “I just don’t want this to turn into one of those times where I feel like an idiot because I never went through a ‘dinosaur phase’ as a kid and I don’t know all the stuff you know.”

Patrick feels his face do a funny thing. “David, you’re never an idiot. You know I love to tease,” David hums in agreement, “but not being into dinosaurs, or cars, or soldiers as a kid doesn’t mean anything. There are so many things you know that I don’t know. And I promise I won’t try to force any unwanted dinosaur facts on you. And I won’t make you go to any feedings.”

David leans down and gently presses their lips together before tucking his face into Patrick’s neck.

“But you should go to the feedings if you want. And, maybe, I wouldn’t mind a few dinosaur facts,” he mumbles into Patrick’s skin. 

Patrick’s stomach swoops as he gently strokes David’s back and hair. Sometimes he still has to take a minute and process how lucky he is to have this beautiful, infuriating man - in his life and his lap. 

“So that’s a yes, then?” he teases gently. 

David pushes himself back, a playful glint in his eye. 

“It’s a _probably_. I might need a bit more convincing before I agree.”

“Oh, more convincing?” Patrick grins, letting his hands sweep up to grab at David’s hips. “Well, if you grab me my computer, I could probably put a spreadsheet together to show you how much we’d be saving on a vacation by accepting Alexis’s offer.”

“Mm-hm.” David shakes his head as his hands come down to cup Patrick’s cock where it’s straining against his zipper and yep, it’s definitely time to move this along. “Or you could take me upstairs and _convince me_ another way.” And if there had been any confusion about his meaning, it disappears as he licks hotly on the underside of Patrick’s jaw. 

That doesn’t mean Patrick has to make it easy on him. “Oh, you mean _that_ kind of convincing,” he growls, the mood shifting as he grabs David by the hair. “Were you a good boy this morning? Did you take a nice thorough shower for me?” 

“Yes. I did, yes,” David whimpers on his lap. 

Patrick tugs harder at David’s hair, pulling him back and off until they’re both standing next to the couch. 

Releasing his grip, Patrick turns David around and gives him a gentle push towards the stairs. 

“Then go upstairs and get undressed for me. I want you on your hands and knees on the bed when I come up.”

Letting out a little moan, David scrambles to obey. 

Patrick takes his time tidying up before going upstairs. As hard as he finds it to wait - and _hard_ is the right word here - he knows his patience will be rewarded when he finally makes his way up to the bedroom. Nothing gets David into that glorious, desperate headspace better than having to wait when he’s already this turned on. Every minute he waits, David will get that much messier and that much more on edge. For what he has planned to _convince_ his husband, on edge is right where Patrick wants him. 

They’ve been playing with this dynamic since the beginning of their relationship, but it had been slow-going at first. The lack of privacy was a huge factor in that, yes, but Patrick also knows that David had let him set the pace for months. So much of the sex they’d had early in their relationship had been brand-new to Patrick. Kissing a man, touching a man, blowing a man, _fucking_ a man. All of it was new. Thrilling and incredible, for sure. But new. And when they’d started playing with power dynamics, that had all been new too. 

It’s not like he didn’t already know what it did to David when Patrick pulled his hair or pinned him to the bed or told him what to do. But Patrick didn’t know what it said about _him_ that he _liked_ it all so much. He worried for so long about how hot he got that time David dropped to his knees completely naked while Patrick hadn’t even taken off his shoes. And he’d been so ashamed of how fast he’d come that time he’d teased David until he cried. 

He might still be spinning in his head about it all if David hadn’t bravely sat him down one evening, poured them both a glass of wine and started talking until he’d pulled all of the messy, complicated, confusing feelings out of Patrick. After that, it got a lot easier. It still took Patrick months before he could say the words domination and submission out loud without blushing, but knowing how much David loved it helped a lot. Every time David lost himself in sensation or curled up on Patrick’s chest after a scene, something settled in him. It feels like his head had been full of slightly-askew picture frames his whole life and David has been systemically going around and fixing them all, one orgasm at a time. 

Having their own house with no neighbours within earshot for the first time had taken their explorations to a whole new level. They’d done so much in Patrick’s apartment. Like, seriously, they’d done things he hadn’t ever even _thought_ about before. But now, _god_ . The past seven months had been a _revelation_. Any worries he might have had about their sex life getting too comfortable or routine after the wedding had been blown out the window the first time David had greeted him, naked and on his knees, after a day alone at the store. 

And now, Patrick is taking full advantage of his encyclopedic knowledge of all David’s kinks. David hates the idea of waiting, especially when he’s this turned on, but he loves the idea that it’s Patrick who’s in control - that it’s Patrick who gets to decide. 

Patrick finishes rinsing out his cup and puts it in the dishwasher. He tosses the teabag into the green bin and checks on the beef stew in the slow cooker. He makes sure his laptop is put away out of reach of Coco before finally turning to head up to their bedroom. 

He’s halfway up the stairs when he hears the first whimper and a thrum of anticipation runs through him. He stops in the doorway and takes in the sight before him. 

It doesn’t matter how long they’ve been together, seeing David naked and on his knees always takes his breath away for a minute. His husband is, to put it mildly, _gorgeous_. All long limbs and wide, warm expanses of skin. David’s so hard that he’s already dripping and he’s trembling with the effort it’s taking him to stay still. 

Patrick can tell the exact minute that David registers his presence. He lets out a long moan and his head drops down between his shoulders. 

“Good boy, doing exactly what I told you,” Patrick says, moving towards the bed and running a finger up the back of David’s thigh. 

David lets out another desperate-sounding moan. “Please, I’m being so good for you, _please, please, please._ ” 

Patrick has to grip his cock through his pants for a second at that. Fuck, how the hell did he manage to get lucky enough that this beautiful man wanted him so badly? 

“I’ve got you, baby, I’ve got you.” Patrick moves up to the head of the bed and slips a finger under David’s chin, pulling his head up before gently pressing their lips together. David whimpers and tries to deepen the kiss but Patrick pulls back and away. 

“You’re so hot for it, aren’t you, baby? Even after I took such good care of you this morning. But that wasn’t enough for you, was it?”

“It was enough - you’re always enough for me. You take such good care of me, Patrick, better than anyone else ever. I just … I need … I want …” 

Patrick takes pity on David and cuts off his babbling with another firm press of their lips. “Shhh, baby, shhh. I know. You need it every few hours, don’t you?”

David lets out a moan loud enough that Patrick is thankful all over again for their lack of neighbours. The effect dirty talk has on David had been one of the best revelations they’d had in the new house. David had originally seemed like he wasn’t really into dirty talk but after a couple of scenes when the line between praise and teasing had gotten a bit blurry, they’d sat down for a talk - they’d gotten a lot better at those over the years. And after a whole new set of disturbing stories from David’s past that had Patrick questioning his image of himself as non-violent, they’d figured out that David didn’t dislike dirty talk. He disliked dirty, degrading talk from people who _meant it_. From Patrick, who showered David with praise and loved him with terrifying sincerity, dirty talk was a whole different thing. It wasn’t shame or the bad kind of embarrassment. It was intimacy and trust. It was love. 

Patrick reaches for the cuffs that are still attached to the bed from their morning adventures. He buckles them around David’s wrists, running a finger under each to check the tightness. Satisfied, he sits back and takes in the sight before him. 

David is shaking, his skin slick with sweat. His eyes are screwed shut and he's breathing like he’s just run a marathon. Patrick loves seeing him like this, his carefully crafted image stripped away, lost to pleasure. He runs a slow finger down David’s spine, watching as his husband hisses and arches into the touch. 

When he reaches the swell of David’s ass, he moves, settling himself between David’s legs and grabbing a handful of cheek in each hand. Slowly, he opens David until his hole is visible, twitching with arousal. Patrick leans forward and breathes over the tight ring of muscle, hot and humid. 

David keens and starts to beg. “Please, fuck, Patrick, _please_.”

“Please what, David?” Patrick replies, breath puffing over David’s hole. 

“Lick me, touch me, anything. _Please._ ”

Patrick takes mercy on him, licking a hot, wet stripe from David’s balls to the base of his spine. David _wails_ and squirms back onto Patrick’s tongue. Pulling David’s cheeks apart so wide it must almost hurt, Patrick sets to work. 

He alternates teasing little licks with long, broad swipes of his tongue that have David tugging wildly on the cuffs. Slowly, methodically, he opens David up. When he finally feels the ring of muscle loosen, he licks his way inside. David’s hole clenches around him, his cock dripping all over the sheets. Patrick keeps him still with hands on his hips, thrusting his tongue into David’s hole and nipping sharply at his rim. 

David’s babbling nonsense - desperate begging mixed with garbled swearing. Patrick keeps him there, speared on his tongue until David collapses forward, sobbing into the sheets. He’s run out of words, moaning and crying and pushing himself back into Patrick’s mouth. 

Patrick loves him like this - wild and uninhibited. David spends so much time carefully curating his appearance that it feels like a private gift when Patrick gets to see him come undone. Reaching down with one hand, Patrick pulls his own cock out of his sweatpants and starts to stroke. David seems oblivious, lost to sensation, and the hot little noises he’s making have Patrick on edge in an embarrassingly short amount of time. 

David’s hole is fluttering around his tongue and he’s moaning in one continuous stream, words apparently having deserted him. Patrick seals his lips over his husband’s hole and _sucks_. David _keens_ wordlessly and that’s it - Patrick comes all over his hand, tongue still fucking into David as he rides out his orgasm. 

When it’s over, he reaches forward, wrapping his come-covered hand around David’s leaking cock. It only takes two strokes and David is sobbing and coming, drenching the seats underneath him, his hole clenching on Patrick’s tongue. 

After a long minute, David collapses, eyes closed and panting heavily. Patrick gives his hole one last, long lick and slides up David’s body, hands smoothing over his back and arms. Reaching the cuffs, he gently undoes them and presses a kiss to each of David’s palms before maneuvering them both onto their sides and spooning up behind his husband. Patrick slips his leg in between David’s and tangles their hands together. He drops soft kisses over the back of David’s head and neck as their breathing slowly returns to normal. 

“Okay, fine, we can go,” David mumbles after a few minutes have passed. 

Patrick smiles and drops another kiss into David’s hair. 

“Thank you, David. It’ll be great, you’ll see.” David mutters something incomprehensible in reply, still floating after his orgasm. Just as Patrick is about to get up and get a washcloth, David’s head jerks up. 

“Wait. Alexis said she had four tickets to the island, didn’t she? Who the fuck else is coming?”


	2. The Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “There it is!” Patrick’s excited shout interrupts Stevie's musings and she follows his finger to see the outline of Isla Nublar as it appears in the distance. David rolls his eyes but Stevie doesn’t miss the fond little smile tucked into his cheek. 
> 
> A hum of excitement runs through the ferry and a thrill goes through Stevie as she watches the lush green hills of the island approach. Dinosaurs. Fuck, she can’t wait. 

“Exactly how many selfies do you need to take?!”

“David! You know that being by the ocean does great things for my curls!”

“And you need to document that with five hundred identical selfies?”

Stevie leans on the railing, looking out over the blue-green of the Caribbean Sea, listening to David and Alexis bicker and trying not to find it endearing. They’re both spoiled, annoying brats and she absolutely does not miss hearing them fight about every inane thing under the sun. 

“Can’t you get excited about something like one time, David? We’re on vacation!”

“My idea of a vacation doesn’t usually involve the risk of being eaten alive, Alexis!”

“Oh my god, David, that was two times! And they’ve totally redone the entire park.”

Stevie keeps staring at the ocean, firmly suppressing her traitorous face before it does something gross - like  _ smile _ . Because she does not miss the sounds of Rose family bickering. 

She sneaks a glance at the man standing next to her with a disgustingly besotted look on his face as he watches his husband and sister-in-law do their version of catching up. Ugh. With all the travelling she’s been doing over the past year for the Rosebud Motel Group, she’s almost forgotten how  _ sappy  _ Patrick’s stupid face can get. 

“So how did Alexis convince you to come?” The man in question turns to face her, leaving David and Alexis to their squabbling. 

And crap. She thought she wouldn’t have to deal with any of this stuff until they were actually on the island. But leave it to Patrick to get right to it. Because, the truth is, it hadn’t taken any convincing at all. She’d put up a token protest, of course. She does have a reputation to maintain, after all. But Jurassic World has been on her very secret bucket list since it had become public knowledge when she’d been about seven. Being offered a trip, all expenses paid, had been like a dream come true. Not like she can  _ tell  _ Patrick that though.

“I was jet-lagged when she called. And desperate enough to get away from the snow that even a vacation with you people seemed like a good idea. At the time.” 

Patrick smirks, looking, as always, like he’s seeing a lot more of her than she’s comfortable with. “Well, I’m so glad you came. David is too - we’ve missed you.” The sincerity in his eyes is too much for her and Stevie looks away. Honestly, she doesn’t know how David puts up with it. 

She needs to change the subject before things get even more unpleasant. “What about you two? I wouldn’t have thought David would willingly set foot anywhere within a hundred miles of a tacky tourist trap, let alone one filled with ‘murder lizards.’” She lets the quotation marks be implied in her tone as Patrick chuckles fondly next to her. But her attention is drawn away from his revolting emotions by a group of people on the deck below them. 

Most of the people on the ferry to Isla Nublar are obviously tourists - she’s surrounded by a sea of brightly-coloured shirts, cheap sunglasses, and selfie sticks. The park employees stand out in their green and brown camo uniforms. David and Alexis stand out, because, well, they’re  _ David and Alexis _ . But there’s something about the group of people she’s staring at. They’re dressed almost identically to the tourists around them, but everything is just slightly  _ off _ . High-end sunglasses - not expensive like the weird designer ones both Roses are sporting, but  _ professional _ , built for protection more than aesthetics. Hawaiian shirts that are all exactingly pressed and creased. And a stance that reads less  _ excited-tourist  _ and more  _ military-precision _ . 

As she watches, they make their way through the crowd and disappear through a door she’s pretty sure is Employees-Only. 

“- misses her more than he lets on.” She shakes her head and tunes back into Patrick. “I’m hoping he’ll end up liking it more than he thinks he will. I mean, it’s  _ dinosaurs _ , right? How could that not be cool, you know?”

Yes, she does know. Because, well,  _ dinosaurs. _ Actual, living dinosaurs. It’s still the coolest thing she’s ever heard in her life. When Alexis called and said the words  _ Jurassic World _ , Stevie had felt giddy in a way she hadn’t since she was a kid. She has a sudden visceral memory of curling up in her room with a stolen newspaper, reading about the first disaster on Isla Nublar, studiously ignoring the shouting and crashing coming from the kitchen downstairs. 

But now she’s stuck with a dilemma. Because she’s  _ finally  _ here. Actually, really, here. And if she lets even one iota of her excitement show on her face, David will never let her hear the end of it. Getting excited about dinosaurs is nerdy and earnest and way too authentic. People like Patrick get excited about dinosaurs. People like Stevie and David get excited about weed and wine and judging everyone around them. 

So, now, she has to spend a whole long weekend pretending she doesn’t want to be here while inwardly geeking out. She opens her mouth but before she can figure out how to respond to Patrick, she’s interrupted by the already-familiar sound of Alexis’s ringtone and David’s voice. 

“Again? This is the fourth call you’ve had since we’ve been on this stupid boat!”

“I’m _working_ , David! I can’t just ignore my clients!” 

“Ugh, fine,” David says to Alexis’ retreating back. Stevie has to look away before she’s forced to acknowledge the hurt in his eyes. He makes his way over to the railing where Patrick takes his hand and turns them around, so David is pressed up against the railing. Patrick wraps himself around David from behind, head hooked over his shoulder. Stevie watches as the scowl drops off of David’s face and is replaced with a super gross, soft, little smile. 

Tearing her eyes away again, she sees Alexis emerge from the stairwell on the lower deck and make her way through the crowd, talking animatedly on her phone. Patrick is murmuring something low in David’s ear and Stevie tries not to listen. Her stomach is doing a weird swirling thing and she can’t figure out why. 

She’s genuinely happy for David - has been since before he and Patrick even started dating. Which, to be honest, wouldn’t even have  _ happened _ if she hadn’t forced the issue. Those two idiots would have kept circling each other like extremely tentative hawks if she hadn’t correctly picked up on what was going on.

And she meant it when she’d told David she’s over him - well, she meant it eventually. So if it’s not envy or jealousy, why does she still feel weird whenever she sees the two of them like this? 

“There it is!” Patrick’s excited shout thankfully interrupts her musings and she follows his finger to see the outline of Isla Nublar as it appears in the distance. David rolls his eyes but Stevie doesn’t miss the fond little smile tucked into his cheek. 

A hum of excitement runs through the ship and a thrill goes through Stevie as she watches the lush green hills of the island approach.  _ Dinosaurs.  _ Fuck, she can’t wait. 

* * *

Alexis rejoins them just before they disembark. She ignores David’s pointed comments about her absence with the ease of long experience and confidently directs them to the monorail that will take them to the main area of the park and their hotel. 

Patrick is glued to the window, looking out at the dense jungle and watching for any glimpse of the island’s inhabitants. Stevie is doing the same thing and trying very hard to pretend like she isn’t. 

“Honey, I don’t think they put any of the dinosaurs along here,” David says the word  _ dinosaur _ like it’s something distasteful that he’s being forced to endure. “They’d attack the train.”

“David, oh my god, they’re not  _ monsters _ ,” Alexis interjects from her seat across the aisle. 

“Um, they’re the literal definition of monsters, Alexis! They’re  _ huge, _ and they have so many teeth, and they’ve  _ eaten people _ . Like more than once!” 

“So, you’re obviously super excited to be here,” Stevie jumps in, her tone as obnoxiously upbeat as she can make it. She’s mostly trying to forestall another sibling spat. The tension between the Rose siblings has been escalating all day and it’s not helping that Alexis has barely looked away from her phone since they boarded the monorail. 

“I am here under duress, obviously,” David replies. “And because _someone_ made certain promises.” Patrick’s eyes darken in response. And, yeah, nope. None of _that_ is happening while she’s standing right here. 

Stevie wretches audibly, making Patrick flush and David look smug. She’s about to say something else to wipe the smugness off his face when exclamations from the front of the car divert her attention. 

The train rounds a curve between two tree-covered hills and suddenly  _ there they are _ . A whole herd of them, long, graceful necks peeking up over the trees. Patrick gasps, Alexis looks up from her phone, and even David looks mildly interested. Stevie plasters a disinterested look on her face, but internally she feels like a kid again.  _ Look at them _ . They’re massive - only their heads and necks are visible over the trees, but the swaying trees all around them make their colossal dimensions obvious. 

A cry that sounds like a mix between a whale-song and a bird-call splits the air and Stevie’s mouth drops open. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees David turn to look at her, a knowing expression on his face. But, to her surprise, he doesn’t comment on the slip in her facade. 

The dinosaur’s call is echoed all around them and she sees several other heads pop up over the jungle below the train. Before she can get a good look, however, they’re whisked past the herd of sauropods and around the next bend in the track. 

“Wow! Do you think those were diplodocus? Or brachiosaurus? I know they have both here. Brachiosaurus are smaller, but it’s hard to tell from this high up.” Patrick is practically babbling and Stevie should really make fun of him, but she’s too busy trying to figure out the same thing. 

“I think they were diplodocus,” says a woman standing next to Patrick. “Did you see that row of small spines running down their back? Only diplodocus have those.”

Patrick turns to respond and Stevie moves to listen but is stopped by David’s hand on her arm. 

“So, why did you really come on this prehistoric murder tour?” 

“Well, considering that Alexis had already recruited your dad and they’d arranged my schedule so I had no other excuse, I’m not sure I had a choice.” That came out pretty smoothly, she thinks, but David has always had an uncanny ability to see right through her bullshit. “This had better be a nice hotel, is all I’m going to say,” she continues and David’s eyes narrow. He still doesn’t call her out, though, and she’s both grateful and confused. They don’t usually pull their punches with each other. 

“Mmmm agreed. I looked it up and it looks like it might be halfway decent. I mean, they have a ‘family-style’ restaurant that has  _ dinosaur puns _ on the menu,” David’s voice is dripping with condescension, “but Masahiro Yoshitake designed the menu at their signature restaurant, so that’s at least a step in the right direction.”    


“But what if I wanted the terridactyl stir fry?” Stevie shoots back, her eyes wide and guileless. 

“No.”

“I hear the sweet-and-saurus chicken ascends to meteoric heights.”

“Stop.”

“The trisyrup-topped ice cream looks like it’s to die for.”

David pauses at that, lips pulling in and looking away with a complete lack of subtlety. “And what - what kind of syrup would they have on something like that?”

“Um, I believe they call them saurces, David.” 

“God, you sound like fucking Ted.” 

Alexis, who has been glued to her phone again ever since the dinosaurs disappeared from view, looks up sharply at this. “Ted?” 

David shoots Stevie a slightly-panicked look before turning to face Alexis. “We were just talking about the menu at that stupid dinosaur-themed restaurant at the hotel. You really need to get them to change up some of those names.” Alexis puts up a good front, every bit as cheerful and confident as ever, but even Stevie knows that Ted is still a sore spot for her. She wears it well, but Alexis is definitely still heartbroken. 

Fortunately, she’s also easily distracted and immediately launches into a description of all the suggestions she’s planning on making to the Masrani Corporation. This allows Stevie to shift over and eavesdrop on Patrick, still deep in conversation with the woman next to him. A paleontology grad student named Erin, as it turns out. 

By the time they reach the hotel, Stevie’s giddiness has returned full force. All she wants to do is dump her stuff in her room and head right out to see whatever she can before the exhibits close for the day. 

“So what are we doing for dinner?” 

Except, fuck, she’s here  _ with  _ people and has to be, you know, social and stuff. She turns to answer Patrick who’s standing by the bank of elevators with David draped over him and whispering something in his ear. But she hesitates for a second at the look on his face, realizing that if she plays her cards right, David might end up doing her work for her. And that would only leave Alexis, who -

“Um, actually, I can’t do dinner tonight - I have to go meet with some people about, like, PR stuff. But you should all go! The food at Jurassic Pork is supposed to be super yummy,” says Alexis, playing with her hair where it falls over her shoulder.

David’s head jerks up in annoyance, even though Stevie is pretty sure he’s been over there trying to talk Patrick into more private activities - successfully if the way Patrick is awkwardly holding his bag in front of him is any indication. 

“Okay, one, I am not going to any restaurant with a  _ pun _ in the title. And, two, why did you even invite us here if you weren’t going to spend any time with us?”

“David, she has to work. We knew that when she invited us.” Patrick shifts his bag to one hand - still holding it strategically in front of him, Stevie notes - and moves the other to rub at David’s lower back. 

“Yeah, David, I have work! You know, the whole reason we’re here?”

“We’re here because your scheming left me no other option! And because my husband, for some inexplicable reason, wants to spend a weekend looking at man-eating monsters.”

“You’re such a party pooper, David!”

“Drink bleach, Alexis.”

“Okay.” Patrick steps forward, cutting Alexis off from what Stevie’s sure would have been an impressively creative retort. “We’re all tired from travelling. Maybe it would be better if we just had a quiet night in. We can regroup in the morning.” 

“Fine,” David bites out. 

“Fine.” Alexis flips her hair in David’s direction and flounces away with a level of drama only a Rose can pull off. 

Stevie tries not to look too excited but apparently overshoots the mark. 

“Stevie - the three of us could go to dinner? Or you could come have room service in our room?” Patrick asks hesitantly, despite David’s renewed whispering in his ear. 

David makes a pained grimace before plastering on the fakest smile Stevie has ever seen. “Yes, Stevie, you should definitely come - we would  _ love  _ to have you.” 

Patrick shoots him a look and Stevie is almost tempted to take them up on their reluctant offer if only to force David to keep smiling like he’s being forced to say something bad about Mariah. But the pull of dinosaurs that are  _ right outside the door _ is too strong - overwhelming even her usual desire to torture David as much as possible. 

“I’m pretty wiped myself,” she says, hoping her general aura of apathy and David’s apparent hyper fixation on Patrick’s neck will combine to disguise her eagerness. “I think I’ll just go up to my room and order something in. Wouldn’t want to be tired for all that fun we’re going to have tomorrow.” 

David rolls his eyes and Stevie purposely does not think about what his right hand is doing behind Patrick’s back. Unfortunately, her imagination has a lot to work with, especially after the front-row view she got that time she walked into the cottage without knocking. 

“Okay, great, that’s great. So we’ll just head upstairs then and see you both tomorrow?” Patrick’s voice is strangled and Stevie bites back a grin. He pulls David into the elevator and she can’t resist fucking with David one more time before the doors close. 

“Should we meet for breakfast, then? At 8?”

“Absolutely not. If I have to spend the day looking at disgusting mutant demons, I refuse to start before 11 am.” 

“9 am.” She doesn’t even want to get up that early herself but the look on David’s face is too good. 

“10,” Patrick says in a strangled tone. Which is unsurprising given that David’s hands have long since strayed beyond PG-rated zones. “We’ll see you in the restaurant at 10 am, Stevie.” 

Before she can respond, the doors start to move and she pretends very hard that the noises she’s hearing are the sound of the gears. 

Then the doors are closed and she’s finally alone. Stevie allows herself one unguarded grin before turning to the next elevator and her hotel room. 

* * *

Less than an hour later, after dropping her bags off in a room that’s far more opulent than any that can be found in a Rosebud Motel, Stevie is staring at a dilophosaurus. Like, an actual living, breathing dilophosaurus. Almost twenty feet long, it looks surprisingly small and light, with a long, narrow snout and two brightly-coloured crests on either side of its head. The dilophosaurus has never been one of Stevie’s favourite dinosaurs - not that she would admit, even on pain of death, to having a  _ favourite dinosaur _ \- but it’s the closest exhibit to the hotel and the only one she could get to before the park closed for the day. 

It’s taken her a bit of time to work her way to the front of the crowd but she used that time to read up on the dilophosaurus. The amount of knowledge they’ve gained in the time since she was a dinosaur-obsessed kid is incredible. For all the speculation paleontologists had done before the first successful cloning of a dinosaur, they’d never figured out that a dilophosaurus’ crests were used in mating displays until the first specimen had reached adolescence. 

There are two dinosaurs visible from where she’s standing but the signs say there are twelve in the enclosure. According to the recorded message playing on hidden speakers around the exhibit, dilophosaurus are most active at dawn and dusk and the missing dinosaurs are likely resting somewhere in the thick vegetation before the sun sets. Stevie stands there watching the closest dinosaur and is struck by the look in its eyes - so unlike anything she’s seen before. There’s a sense of  _ recognition  _ in the eyes of most modern animals - something that’s totally absent from the dilophosaurus’ gaze. Instead, there’s just a cold, alien intelligence that sparks a feeling in Stevie’s hindbrain. A feeling like fear. 

The five-minutes-to-closing announcement sounds over the speakers and her attention is caught by a flash of bright fabric a few metres down the railing from where she’s standing. It’s the same odd-looking group of people from the ferry. They must have had the same idea as she did to see whatever they could before things closed down for the night. 

Except, they’re not behaving at all like the tourists around them. Instead of pointing and gawking at the dilophosauruses in the jungle beyond the two sets of safety rails, the tacky not-tourists seemed fascinated by one of the computerized displays, huddled around it with their phones out. It’s weird - they seem oblivious to the dinosaurs standing twenty feet from them and … did the screen of the display just flicker? 

Curiosity piqued, Stevie makes her way through the crowd closer to the strange group of people. 

“ _ All of our exhibits are now closed. Thank you for visiting Jurassic World and we look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.” _

A sigh of disappointment runs through the crowd and Stevie finds herself fighting her way upstream. She looks over and the not-tourists have faded back into the crowd and are moving away. Shrugging, she gives up and allows the masses of people to sweep her toward the exit. 

Maybe she’ll order room service and soak in the Jacuzzi tub that takes up a quarter of her hotel room. There’s probably some decent porn on pay-per-view. Or she could hit up one of the bars along the promenade leading back to the hotel. She stops to scan a menu outside of one of the more promising looking places - less crowded than some of the others and very few children inside.

What really makes up her mind, though is the man sitting at the bar looking her over appreciatively. She returns his gaze - he’s hot. Very hot. At least six feet tall (although it’s hard to tell when he’s sitting down) with dark brown skin and a shaved head, he’s wearing a short-sleeved pink button-up over a white t-shirt that shows off an impressive set of forearms. 

Stevie gives the man an assessing look that he returns with a wide, easy smile. Fuck it. David and Patrick are obviously getting laid tonight and who even knows what’s up with Alexis. Stevie might as well get hers while she can. 

She straightens her back and makes a beeline for the bar. 


	3. The Hotel Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David loves every kind of sex with Patrick. The sweet, gentle kind that lasts forever and makes it feel like they’re carving out a space in the world just for the two of them. The fast, rough, passionate kind that’s a throwback to those early days when they had to take advantage of any privacy they could find. The kind where he gets to take Patrick apart until he’s begging and crying and so, so gorgeous. 
> 
> But he thinks this might be his absolute favourite - Patrick’s strong hands gripping him and putting him where he wants, his voice wrapping like sinful honey around David and turning his brain into mush.

David groans as Patrick slams him against the hotel room door the second it closes behind them. He drops his head back against the wood and lets it take his weight as his husband’s lips find their favourite spot on his neck. 

Patrick bites down and David moans, hips jerking forward. He reaches out to undo the buttons on Patrick’s shirt, but barely makes it halfway before strong hands grab his wrists and pin them to the door on either side of his head. 

“I don’t think so, David.” Patrick’s voice is unfairly steady while David feels like he’s going to combust after nothing but a little biting and manhandling. “You couldn’t keep your hands to yourself downstairs so now I’m going to have to do that for you,” Patrick continues in that infuriatingly even tone, scraping his teeth along David’s jaw.

David whimpers, straining futilely against Patrick’s firm hold. He knew when he snuck his fingers under the waistband of Patrick’s jeans in the hotel lobby that there would be consequences later. He’s been counting on it, actually. The blatant groping in the elevator on the way up had just been to seal the deal. And because Patrick’s ass managed to look incredible even wrapped in faded denim from Costco. 

“Do you know how hard,” Patrick punctuates the word with a slow, filthy grind against David’s trapped cock, “it was to keep a straight face with your fingers all over me?” 

Shifting so that he’s holding both wrists in one strong hand, Patrick traces his fingers lightly over the front of David’s floral Givenchy pants. The contrast between the soft tickle of fingers tracing his cock and the unyielding strength of the grip on his wrists has David panting and squirming in seconds. And when Patrick leans in and starts nipping sharply at his jaw, David can’t take it anymore. 

“Please, Patrick, wanna touch you.” David strains forward, desperate for any friction on his cock. 

“I think you did more than enough touching downstairs, don’t you think David?” Patrick slips his hand up under David’s sweater and thumbs over a nipple. David moans, his entire body feeling lit up and hypersensitive. He loves every kind of sex with Patrick. The sweet, gentle kind that lasts forever and makes it feel like they’re carving out a space in the world just for the two of them. The fast, rough, passionate kind that’s a throwback to those early days when they had to take advantage of any privacy they could find. The kind where he gets to take Patrick apart until he’s begging and crying and so, so gorgeous. 

But he thinks this might be his absolute favourite - Patrick’s strong hands gripping him and putting him where he wants, his voice wrapping like sinful honey around David and turning his brain into mush. David has always loved giving up control in bed, always felt more comfortable when he isn’t the one who has to make decisions and can abandon himself to sensation. But that’s always come with an undercurrent of anxiety and danger. Even when he played with safewords and proper negotiation - which wasn’t as often as it should have been - he could never be certain about anyone’s motivations and it meant that he could never let himself sink as far into it as he wanted to. 

But with Patrick - Patrick who listens to him, who pays attention, who  _ sees  _ him - he feels safe. Safe enough to let go and follow his body’s instincts. Instincts that were currently screaming at him to get his mouth and hands on any part of Patrick they could reach. 

So he does.

As Patrick dips his head forward to swipe his tongue over the nipple he’s been playing with, David strains against the grip on his wrists, leans forward and  _ bites _ into the crook of Patrick’s neck. 

Hissing, Patrick pulls back and grabs a handful of David’s hair, tilting his head and crashing their mouths together, his previous control vanishing in an instant. He’s like a man on fire, crushing their lips together with bruising force, tongue mapping the inside of David's mouth with a possessiveness that makes his knees weak. His hands are still pinned above his head so all he can do is open up to Patrick and take whatever he offers. The stinging in his scalp only winds him up more, pleasure-pain sparking up his spine and pushing all other thoughts out of his mind. 

“ _ Welcome to the Hilton Resort at Jurassic World: your prehistoric home way from home!” _

“Jesus fuck!”

They jump apart as the overly-cheerful voice echoes through the hotel room, Patrick putting himself in between David and the source of interruption. Exchanging a wide-eyed glance, they creep down the short entrance hall and round the corner, Patrick brandishing his bag like a weapon. 

“ _ You can find information on all the attractions and amenities Jurassic World has to offer from the comfort of your hotel room _ ,” blares the television over a picture of the lagoon they’d passed on the monorail. 

“What the actual fuck is happening?” David glares at the screen. They’d been in the middle of some pretty fucking amazing foreplay before they’d been so rudely interrupted, thank you very much. In front of him, Patrick drops his bag with a relieved chuckle. 

Feeling his heart rate returning to normal, David finally takes in the rest of the hotel room. Tacky, offensive television voice aside, it’s nice. Like, really nice. Dark wood floors and soft brown walls frame a massive king-sized bed covered in a plush, deep blue duvet. Huge patio windows open to a balcony that looks out over the lagoon and main promenade of the park. The far corner of the room is dominated by a Jacuzzi tub on a raised platform. It’s not The Plaza, but it’s the nicest place David has stayed since before they’d lost the money. 

“Wow!” Patrick exclaims, seeming to agree with the direction of David’s thoughts. “Look at this place! I can’t believe your sister gets all this for free.”

“Well, Alexis has always had a knack for getting people to give her free stuff,” David says, not trying very hard to keep the annoyance out of his voice. 

“David -” Patrick starts. 

“I know,” David cuts him off. He’s being hard on Alexis, he does know that - she's here to work and he can hardly blame her for that. It’s just - something about not seeing her for months on end and then her focus being almost entirely on her phone - it’s reminding him of old habits. And not particularly good ones. 

“The room is actually very tasteful if you put aside the cockblocking TV,” he admits, rolling his suitcases over to the wardrobe. 

Only to find his path blocked by his husband, who takes the suitcases and lifts them onto the luggage rack before turning back to David and pulling him over to the bed. 

“It’s only cockblocking if we let it be,” Patrick says with a smirk. Then, with a speed and strength that make David’s cock throb painfully in his pants, Patrick flips him onto the bed where he lands facedown with a huff. Before he can push himself up to his hands and knees, Patrick’s weight settles over his ass and he pins David’s hands to the small of his back. Patrick leans down breath ghosting over David’s ear. 

“Now, where were we?” Patrick whispers, nipping at David’s earlobe. “Because I think I still owe you a bit of a lesson on keeping your hands to yourself in public.” He grinds down and David gasps at the feeling of Patrick’s cock pressing into his ass. Even through several layers of fabric, he can feel how hard his husband is and it sends a bolt of arousal shooting through him. 

“Fuck, Patrick. Fuck me.”

“Oh, we’ll get there, David,” Patrick breathes out, dropping biting kisses along David’s neck that go straight to his cock. He moans, pushing his ass back into Patrick, begging wordlessly. 

The hands holding his wrists pinned to his back shift, grabbing each hand individually and moving them up to the headboard. “Hold on, David. Don’t move your hands until I tell you to.”

Fucking fuck. Sometimes David can’t believe that this is the same man who couldn’t bring himself to lean in the last few inches for their first kiss. He really shouldn't be surprised though. When Patrick wants something, he commits to it with a passion that takes David’s breath away. And their sex life is no exception. Not that Patrick had ever been anything less than amazing in bed. But the calm, sure confidence he carries himself with now is the hottest fucking thing David has ever seen. 

Case in point: David, pinned to the bed, fully clothed, cock trapped painfully in his pants and Patrick keeping him there with nothing but a hand on his back and a firm command. 

Hands dip under his sweater and gently push it up until it’s bunched around his elbows. He’s about to issue a complaint because yes, Patrick is hot and the sex they have is amazing, but this sweater is  _ luxury cashmere _ . Patrick’s two steps ahead of him even here though, and he gently eases the sweater up David’s arms, lifting each hand to slide it off. The weight on David’s ass disappears for a minute and he turns his head to watch as Patrick carefully folds his sweater and places it carefully on his suitcase. 

David bites his lip to keep in a moan and Patrick shoots him an amused glance. Okay, so he gets off on hot men correctly handling luxury knits. Sue him. 

He shifts slightly, testing the waters and Patrick is back before he can blink, firm hand pressing him back into the mattress with ease. “You’ve done enough touching for today, David. I’m pretty sure Stevie knows exactly what we were headed up to here to do.” 

“Of course, Stevie knows. She’s probably out trolling for the same thing!” 

“I - well, yeah, probably,” Patrick admits, moving his hands to David’s hips, lifting him to his knees. “You’re still going to be good for me and keep your hands to yourself, aren’t you baby?”

Fuck. 

“Fuck. Yes,” David says on a moan. “I mean, green. Green.” 

“Good boy.” The praise washes over him with the same warm flood of arousal as it always does. With effort, he keeps his hands on the headboard and his hips still as Patrick unbuckles his pants and slides them off. His boxer-briefs follow quickly after. 

And then David is fully naked while Patrick hasn’t even taken off his shoes. He used to  _ hate  _ this - the feeling of being the only one exposed and vulnerable. Patrick changed that like he did so many other things. David still feels vulnerable in this position but it’s a good kind of vulnerable - an intimate trust rather than a sign of weakness. 

And it’s really fucking hot. 

Patrick climbs back onto the bed, settling his weight over David again. His coarse jeans chafe at the soft skin of David’s ass with delightful friction. A tongue touches the knob of bone at the top of his spine before  _ slowly  _ licking downwards towards his ass. 

“What was it you wanted again, David?” Patrick breathes over his lower back, the fucking tease. 

David’s more than ready to move this along, though and so he gives Patrick the answer he knows he wants. “Fuck me, Patrick. Please fuck me.”

“Hmmm. I don’t think so.” Suddenly, the weight that’s been pressing so deliciously into his ass slides back and David whines, confused. 

“But - you said -”

“Oh, I’m going to get my cock in your ass, David. You’re just going to be the one doing all the work.” 

Yep. Yes. David is very into that plan. He goes to push himself up and is stopped by a hand in his hair and another coming down with a loud slap on his ass. 

“I don’t think I told you to move yet, David.”

His hands shoot back to the headboard, the sharp pain from the slap diffusing outwards with a slow heat that makes his skin feel like it’s singing. A hand parts his cheeks and he groans as he feels Patrick’s finger rub drily over his hole.

“Tell me what you need, baby,” Patrick croons, dipping the tip of his finger into David’s hole before pulling back to keep rubbing infuriatingly softly at his rim. 

“I need -  _ fuck _ \- I need you inside me -  _ please -”  _ he begs brokenly, not even sure what he’s saying, desperate for more - anything - just more. 

Patrick slips his finger in just to the first joint and wiggles it teasingly. “Like this, David? Is this what you need?”

Fuck his fucking troll of a fucking husband. If David didn’t love him so fucking much, he’d hate him. “More, Patrick, please - I need more.” He’d be embarrassed about the desperation in his voice if Patrick didn’t already know how hot David gets when he teases him like this. And vice versa. 

The finger rubbing at his hole disappears for a second before returning, wet and slippery. Fuck, where did Patrick even get lube? God, sometimes David really loves his husband’s commitment to proper planning and preparation.

Apparently done with teasing, Patrick slips his finger into David in one smooth glide, forcing a gasping moan from his lips. It’s so good and nowhere near enough at the same time. David fucks himself back, searching for more but careful to keep his hands clenched around the headboard. 

“That’s it, David, just like that,” Patrick says like he’s giving David a gift. And, fuck, he is, David thinks, as he fucks himself back onto Patrick’s finger with growing desperation. “Fuck, so hot baby, taking what you need. Do you want more?” David whines low in his throat. “Come on, David, ask me for what you need, baby.”

The mix of praise and teasing falling from Patrick’s lips goes straight to David’s cock and he’s babbling before he makes the conscious decision to open his mouth. “More, please, Patrick - I need more - your fingers - your cock - please - need you so much, baby - fuck me -”

“Jesus,” Patrick says with a strangled gasp, calm facade finally slipping. “Yes, fuck, David - gonna give you what need - fuck you until all you feel is me.” 

David feels the tip of another finger slide into his hole and he fucks himself back harder, still wanting more. “Yes, fuck me - only want you, Patrick -” 

Patrick fucks into him every time David thrusts back and the rough treatment gets David’s cock dripping all over the sheets. Then Patrick curls his fingers up, hitting David’s prostate with perfect precision and David jerks, a sobbing moan escaping his throat. Suddenly, he can’t wait any longer, needing to feel Patrick filling him up.

“I’m ready, please, Patrick. Want you to fuck me - fill me up -  _ please _ .”

Patrick’s fingers pull out, leaving his hole empty and clenching desperately around nothing. Hands reach up, grasping his shoulders and pulling him up and away from the headboard. 

David lets himself be manhandled, the easy way Patrick moves him turning him on even more. Fuck, he loves how effortless Patrick makes this look - his solid strength making David feel deliciously exposed and vulnerable. 

Patrick maneuvers them so he’s lying back on the bed with David straddling his hips - the reverse of their earlier position. Hands grip David’s hips, lifting him and positioning him so Patrick’s cock rubs teasingly at his hole. David tries to press down, but Patrick’s hands hold him firm. 

“Hands behind your back, David.” 

Oh, oh fuck. David’s eyes roll back in his head as his hands shoot behind him, holding onto his wrists to keep them there. 

“Good boy,” Patrick breathes, arousal making his voice wonderfully low and rough. He guides David down onto his cock, gently but firmly, until the head pops past David’s rim with a delicious burn. 

David tries to slide further down, but Patrick’s grip tightens again, holding him steady, the head of his cock stretching David open. 

“You’re going to keep those hands where they are while you ride me, David,” he says with maddening composure. “Do you understand, baby?”

“Fuck, Patrick,  _ yes _ ,” David moans and he feels Patrick’s hands drop away so he can  _ finally _ sink down on the cock stretching his hole.  _ Fuck _ , Patrick's never been any slouch in the size department, but in this position, he feels  _ huge _ , like he’s going to split David wide open. When he’s finally seated, Patrick’s cock the only thing he can think about, David pauses to relish the feeling of overwhelming fullness. 

Patrick's head is thrown back on the pillow and he's panting and obviously trying not to thrust up until David is ready. God, he’s so gorgeous like this, jaw clenching and muscles straining and, fuck, who is David to deny him?

He rocks his hips up until Patrick’s cock almost slips out of him before dropping back down. Patrick’s cock rubs against his prostate and heat coils at the base of David’s spine. He rocks his hips again and this time Patrick thrusts up, meeting him halfway and setting off sparks behind David’s eyes. 

They set up a rhythm coloured by desperate arousal. David angles himself so that Patrick’s cock drags along his prostate with every thrust even as his thighs start to burn from the effort of fucking himself without using his arms. And fuck, Patrick’s hands feel like they’re everywhere - running over his chest, stroking his thighs, thumbing his nipples. 

David loves watching Patrick when he’s like this - lips bitten until they’re puffy and pink, breath coming in gasps and choked-off moans, and eyes boring into David like he’s an oasis in a desert. There’s a gorgeous flush spreading over Patrick’s neck and chest and a bead of sweat on his collarbone that David wants to  _ lick _ . 

David's cock is aching and dripping all over Patrick’s stomach, so hard he thinks all it would take is the lightest stroke to set him off. He tightens his grip on his own wrists, fighting to keep his hands where Patrick told him despite the throbbing ache in his cock. He clenches down on Patrick, trying to get him there before David’s thighs give out (or his cock explodes out of sheer desperation). 

“Fuck, David, you’re so fucking hot. Look at you doing exactly what I told you. You’re so good for me, David.” The praise washes over David, somehow both calming him and ratcheting up his arousal. Nearly sobbing from the mix of muscle exhaustion and desperate need, David lets out a stream of broken pleas, cock bouncing and so hard it hurts. “So good for me, David. Go ahead, baby. Touch yourself for me. Make yourself come.”

Before Patrick has even finished speaking, David’s hand flies to his cock. He was nearly right - it only takes two strokes before his muscles clench and he’s coming with a wail of mingled pleasure and relief. Patrick grabs his hips and thrusts up into him as David’s muscles fail, his cock grinding into David’s prostate and prolonging his orgasm. 

A few erratic thrusts and Patrick throws his head back as David feels wet heat fill him up. Patrick lets out a guttural moan and melts into the bed, panting for breath. David collapses forward, lips finding Patrick’s in a sloppy kiss that turns into more just sharing breath as they both come down from their orgasms. 

David feels boneless, his thigh muscles trembling from the workout he’s just put them through. After a minute, Patrick shifts underneath him, dropping a kiss to his temple. “David, baby, I need to …”

“Yeah, okay, let me -” David tries to shift himself off, but his muscles don’t cooperate. With a laugh that makes him sound far too proud of himself, Patrick’s hands move to David’s hips, lifting him up and off so David can collapse into the mattress. 

He feels a soft brush of lips on his shoulder and the shifting of the mattress as Patrick moves off the bed. David fades out for a few minutes, only coming back to himself at the sensation of warm, wet fabric gently cleaning him up. There’s the feel of a hand smoothing up his back and lips peppering kisses up his neck and onto his face. 

“David, we shouldn’t fall asleep yet.”

“Mmmm,” he responds, rather eloquently, he thinks, given the circumstances. 

Apparently Patrick doesn’t agree. There’s a fond laugh and gentle hands roll him onto his back. 

David grumbles but lets himself be moved, not wanting to leave the warm, comfortable bed. 

Then Patrick leans down and whispers the two sexiest words in the English language into his ear. 

“David - room service.” 

* * *

Later, after room service has been ordered and demolished - and fuck, David has missed the luxury of having perfectly-cooked steak delivered to his room - they find themselves tangled together in the Jacuzzi, immersed in hot water with a half-empty bottle of very nice wine on the ledge beside them. 

David leans back, luxuriating in the feeling of being in a hotel that might actually deserve the label ‘luxury.’ HIs arms tighten around his husband in his lap as they look out the open patio doors to the sun setting behind the dormant volcano in the distance. 

“Still only here under protest, David?” 

David’s lips twist to the side, trying not to smile even though Patrick isn’t even looking at him. 

“Okay, I was never here  _ under protest _ . I just had some very reasonable reservations about vacationing on an island with a history of  _ multiple fatal disasters _ .” He huffs a breath. “But, yes, okay, fine, I will maybe admit that this is slightly nicer than I was imagining and I don’t completely hate it.”

“Such high praise.” 

“Well, I have been told I have particularly discerning taste.” 

“Oh? By who?”

“Multiple people. Who were all correct.”

“Of course, of course.”

David can’t see Patrick’s face but he can picture the expression his husband is wearing perfectly. Smiling to himself, David slides his foot along Patrick’s calf, slick skin sliding together in the warm water. 

He means what he’s saying. This never would have been his choice of vacation but so far he’s not hating it. At all. He’d never admit it out loud, but the dinosaurs they’d seen from the train hadn’t been horrifying. Something about the long graceful necks had been aesthetically appealing in a way he hadn’t expected. And the hotel was honestly pretty incredible. There was just one thing that’s been bothering him all day.

“Alexis is being super fucking annoying, though.” 

Patrick reaches down and tangles their fingers together over his stomach. “David, I know how much you’ve been missing her.” David scoffs, mostly because that’s what he’s expected to do. They’re well beyond Patrick buying his act. “But she does have to work.”

“Ugh, I know. It’s just …” David doesn’t know how to put what he’s feeling into words. 

“It’s hard to go from having your lives so tangled together to being apart like this. And her being on her phone all the time is making you feel like she doesn’t miss you as much as you miss her.”

Sometimes, David has to take a minute and breath through the feeling that runs through his chest when Patrick says something like that. Something that reminds David how much his husband gets him. Understands him.  _ Sees  _ him. 

“But - I know. I know she’s working and I’m happy for her. I am. I just -”

“I know.” Patrick turns around, wrapping his arms around David’s neck and kissing him softly, almost chastely, before pulling back to look him in the eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” David replies, leaning in for another kiss that starts out chaste but quickly becomes heated. David loses himself in the feel of slick, wet skin, a coil of heat that has nothing to do with the hot tub spreading through his body. 

Just as his hand closes over Patrick’s cock though, all the lights in the room flicker and the hot tub shuts off with a dull clunking sound. David’s about to suggest they move to the bed when a thunderous roar splits the air. 

It echoes out over the park, sounding nothing like any animal David has ever heard. The inescapable _otherness_ of the sound makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up - some instinct deep inside of him suddenly on high alert. The sound goes on for long minutes, filling the room and sending a chill up his spine. 

He pulls back, meeting Patrick’s gaze as the sound fades out, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. “What. The fuck. Was that?” 

“Well, given that we’re on an island filled with dinosaurs, that obviously must have been a lion.” 

David glares at his deeply unfunny husband. 

“Don’t worry, David. The security here is top-of-the-line. Nothing is going to happen to you.”

“I’ll believe that when we’re safely back home away from any evil, disgusting beasts. Other than Roland.”

The corners of Patrick’s mouth turn down fondly and he leans in to press their lips together again. 

“Well while we’re here, we should take advantage don’t you think?”

“In what way?” David asks, knowing his husband is about to say something completely awful.

“If you'll be my tricera-top, I'll be your tricera-bottom.”

“Oh my  _ god _ .” 


	4. The Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I say we start with the main pavilion and then do the gyrospheres,” Patrick says, looking up from the brochure he’s perusing at breakfast the next morning. “What do you guys think?”
> 
> “We should start with the mosasaurus feeding show,” Alexis responds, leaning forward and tapping the brochure with one long fingernail. “It’s right next door and the next show starts in an hour!” 
> 
> “Mmmm, okay, no, there were certain promises made to me when I agreed to come to this island of irresponsibility and hubris. And one of those was that I don’t have to watch anything getting eaten.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Throwing my posting schedule completely off here, but editing is going way faster than I expected it to and I'm excited to get to the next couple of chapters so here we go! Thanks so much to everyone reading, commenting, or bookmarking this! I'm so glad other people are interested in this weird little crossover!

“I say we start with the main pavilion and then do the gyrospheres,” Patrick says, looking up from the brochure he’s perusing at breakfast the next morning. “What do you guys think?”

“We should start with the mosasaurus feeding show,” Alexis responds, leaning forward and tapping the brochure with one long fingernail. “It’s right next door and the next show starts in an hour!” 

“Mmmm, okay, no, there were certain promises made to me when I agreed to come to this island of irresponsibility and hubris. And one of those was that I don’t have to watch anything getting  _ eaten _ .” David’s voice goes a little high-pitched at the end and Patrick chimes in before the sibling bickering can start up again. 

“Actually, it says on here that they do daily paleobotany tours.” David perks up and Patrick smiles at him. “You have to sign up the day before, so I’m thinking you can sign up for tomorrow, David, and that’ll be a good time for us to go to the stuff you don’t want to see.” 

“Does this tour involve any giant lizards eating other living creatures?” David asks, hooking his head over Patrick’s shoulder to read the brochure. 

“It does not.” Patrick shoots a quelling glance at Alexis who looks like she’s gearing up to argue. “It’s all about primordial plant life and it looks like there’s a special section on prehistoric species that have survived to the present day.” He watches as Alexis settles back in her chair, a frown on her face and her phone back in her hand. She looks upset as she types out a message, but she doesn’t argue the point any further. 

David plucks the brochure from his hands and starts reading it closely. Patrick’s relieved. There’s no way David was ever going to be as excited as he is about being here, but Patrick’s been hoping to find some part of this trip that he’d enjoy. Especially with Alexis being so distracted. No matter what sexual favours were promised, Patrick knows that David’s main motivation for coming was to spend time with his sister and he’s hurt that she seems more interested in her phone than in spending time with them. 

Unfortunately, both Rose siblings tend to express their feelings towards each other through a complicated system of bickering, insults, and creative threats so the chances of them talking about it any time soon are pretty low. They will eventually, Patrick’s sure, but in the meantime, he’s going to try and forestall any big blowups. 

“David, I see you’re fully prepared for a day in the tropics.” 

Stevie, having appeared as if by magic beside their table, is staring in amused awe at the Alexander McQueen houndstooth sweater David had spent too much time picking out that morning. Patrick smothers a laugh in his hand at the affronted look on David’s face. 

“And I see you’re keeping up your tradition of being twenty minutes late to everything, even on vacation,” David fires back. 

“I’m sorry. You two were in such a hurry to get up to your room last night, I just assumed you were exhausted and needed as much extra sleep as possible.” Patrick feels himself flush as Stevie sits down across from him, a smirk on her face. 

“Ew!” 

David ignores Alexis’s contribution. “Um, you were the one who turned down our invitation, if I recall correctly. I’m assuming you had a nice, relaxing evening alone in your room?” There’s an obviously fake expression of curiosity on David’s face that Patrick should find obnoxious and instead finds adorable. 

“Maybe I did,” Stevie shoots back. “But I’m sorry for turning down your very sincere invitation. Should we have a sleepover tonight to make up for it?”

“Ew, no. These beds are far too small for three people.”

“Are you sure about that, David?” 

Patrick has to fake a coughing fit to cover up the laughter bubbling up at David’s expression. But he does really want to get out into the park, so he steps in before his husband can start interrogating his best friend about her sex life at breakfast. “We already ate, but we’re happy to wait for you if you want to order something, Stevie.”

“Are we, though?” David asks. 

“Oh no, I already ate,” says Stevie, leaning back in her chair with a self-satisfied smirk on her face. 

“Mmm. I’m sure you did,” David props his elbow on the table and leans his head on his hand. Patrick isn’t sure he’s ever going to understand the weird mix of brutal honesty and teasing obfuscation that makes up David and Stevie’s communication style. 

“Well then,” Patrick says, his eagerness to see the park outweighing his amusement at the conversation, “let’s go see some dinosaurs!”

“Oh my god, yay! The monorail tour is supposed to be, like, super cute!” Alexis stands up, her towering heels no more appropriate for the setting than David’s wool sweater. She takes Stevie by the arm and heads for the exit, talking excitedly about her plans for promoting the park. 

Patrick goes to follow but David grabs him by the arm to hold him back for a second. 

“Thank you for finding the botany tour for me,” he says, leaning forward to drop a soft kiss on Patrick’s lips. “I love you.”

“You’re welcome, David,” Patrick responds, brushing a thumb under David’s eye. “I love you too.”

* * *

Next to him, Stevie is breathless with exhilarated laughter as the gyrosphere speeds through the valley, massive feet thundering alongside them and impossibly long tails swishing through the grass all around. For the first time today, Patrick really feels like he’s  _ seeing  _ history - or prehistory, he supposes - and not just a curated museum exhibit. There are dinosaurs all around them - more long-necked diplodocus that tower so high over the gyrosphere they can’t see their heads, stegosaurus plodding slowly through the grass, gallimimus sprinting past them at incredible speeds, triceratops browsing in a herd, completely unconcerned with the glass-encased humans in their midst. 

“Stevie, look!” he shouts, pointing at the lush swamp that’s just come into view on the other side of the valley. Herds of maiasaura and apatosaurus wade through the water, feeding on the water-logged plants that grow so abundantly in the volcanic soil of the island. Despite the high-tech gyrospheres he can see all around them and the anachronistic mix of dinosaurs, many of whom lived in dramatically different time periods, Patrick feels like he’s seeing a glimpse of the world as it had been long before the first primate even existed, let alone stood on two feet. The towering tree-covered hills enclosing the valley add to the feeling that he’s just stepped into a place time forgot. 

Patrick reaches out and slows the gyrosphere as they approach a herd of grazing stegosaurus arranged in a protective circle around their young. In the books he’d read as a child, stegosaurus had always been described as dull and slow-witted but being here, seeing them, he can’t agree with that description at all. There’s an awareness in the eyes of the animals in front of him - something that sparks a weird sense of kinship in him. 

“They’re not like I expected,” Stevie says, awe colouring her voice. He glances over, noting her flushed cheeks and bright eyes and the wide, open smile on her face that doesn’t appear nearly as often as it should. Patrick has always thought Stevie was pretty but, for the first time, he thinks he can see what David does when he calls her gorgeous. It’s like something has loosened in her, a layer of defensiveness dropped away, leaving her bright and wild and vulnerable. 

“Me neither,” he replies, “they’re - I don’t know - so much  _ more  _ than I thought they’d be.”

“Yeah, exactly. I guess I always thought they’d seem older, you know? Like, less evolved or something.” Stevie is staring out at the herd of stegosaurus with a rapt expression. “When I used to read about - I mean, when we learned about them at school, they were still stuck in the idea of dinosaurs as slow, stupid animals. These are so much more than that.”

Patrick notices the slip but decides not to comment. There’s no easier way to make Stevie shut down than to draw attention to something she feels vulnerable about. 

“I know! David even seems into it and I was afraid he was going to spend the whole weekend on his phone. Or fighting with Alexis.” 

He searches the field around them, filled with other gyrospheres scattered among the herds of dinosaurs, trying to spot the gyrosphere containing his husband and Alexis. The four of them had spent the morning touring the exhibits along the main promenade by the hotel, the tensions from the day before seeming to slip away in the excitement of exploring the park. David and Alexis were still bickering, but it’s back to being familiar and affectionate instead of pointed. 

When he finally spots the pod carrying the Rose siblings, David is obviously in the middle of making a passionate point about something, his hands flying through the air and his face cycling through expressions so fast it’s hard to keep up. Patrick is thankful to see that Alexis seems just as engaged, pointing out at the dinosaurs, her phone nowhere in sight. He breathes a sigh of relief, hoping yesterday had just been an anomaly and they could get back on track enjoying their vacation. 

“Do you want to head over closer to the swamp? It looks like the maiasaur - I mean, those tall dinosaurs are doing … something interesting …” Stevie trails off, wincing. 

“Sure! I love maiasaura!” Patrick grins and turns the lever to swing the gyrosphere around. “They were definitely in my top ten favourite dinosaurs when I was a kid.”

Stevie glances at him out of the corner of her eye, seeming to carefully weigh her next words. 

“Me too,” she says finally, almost whispering. “But if you tell David I had a  _ top ten list  _ of favourite dinosaurs, I will murder you in your sleep and feed you to the raptors.” 

“Understood.” 

Before he can say anything else, there’s a burst of static over the speakers and, with a concerning shudder, the gyrosphere comes to an abrupt halt. 

Everything is still for a minute, the only sounds the swishing of grass and the primordial calls of dinosaurs in the valley around them. 

“ _ We seem to be experiencing technical difficulties on our Gyrosphere Adventure Ride. Please remain seated with your safety harness securely buckled until our technicians can resolve the issue. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.” _

Patrick glances around again, catching sight of his husband’s pod stopped about thirty feet behind them. David’s face is pale and drawn, all the earlier animation gone. He picks up his phone to call over before David works himself into an anxiety spiral and sighs when he notices the lack of signal. The tall hills surrounding the valley must be blocking everything. 

David looks up and Patrick settles for sending him a reassuring smile. It must come off pretty well because David’s face immediately relaxes a fraction and he returns the smile with a shaky one of his own. 

“That’s like the third weird thing I’ve noticed since we got here,” Stevie says, as an ankylosaurus ambles past their pod. 

“Same,” he responds, “there was that weird power blip last night and all those warning signs outside of the spinosaurus enclosure we passed. It’s strange.”

Stevie looks over at him with narrowed eyes. “Yeah, I know. It’s all got to be a coincidence though, right? I’m sure they have daily technical issues at a place like this.” 

“I’m sure,” he says but he can hear the note of trepidation in his voice. The park does have a less-than-stellar safety record and these are actual  _ dinosaurs  _ and … 

“No,” Stevie interrupts his building anxiety. “This is David. He’s gotten in both of our heads with his whole ‘evil lizard monsters’ thing. It’s been over twenty years since the last disaster and even that was because a bunch of people were trespassing.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” He’s just picking up on David’s anxiety - something that’s been happening more and more since the wedding, marriage opening up new levels of intimacy he hadn’t even known were possible. Including, apparently, sharing each other’s emotions. 

Which reminds him. “You know that David wouldn’t think any differently of you if he knew you were excited to be here,” he says, peering over at Stevie. “He’d tease you, sure, but that’s not any different than every other day of the year.” 

Stevie bows her head, her hair falling to hide her face. She sighs. “Yeah. I - yeah. I know that. It’s just …”

Patrick waits for her to continue. David tends to like it when he jumps in and finishes his sentences, often relieved not to have to articulate his emotions himself. But the same thing just makes Stevie shut down. If you give her enough space, she usually gets there herself, though. 

“... some people used to be kind of jerky about it,” she says after a long minute. Patrick’s heart clenches. Stevie is usually unflinchingly honest - until it comes to her childhood. That’s hidden under layers of prickly sarcasm and vague implications. He doesn’t know the details - though he’s pretty sure David does - but he can tell she has as many hidden landmines in her past as his husband. 

“Well, it sounds like those people were assholes,” he responds when it becomes obvious she’s not going to say anything more. “Dinosaurs are cool. Even if my husband keeps calling them ‘infernal demonic dragons.’” 

That makes her snort out laughter, exactly as intended. “Mrs. Rose would be proud.”

Laughing, they both turn to look over at David who’s staring back with a suspicious glare on his face. Patrick’s about to try his phone again if only to hear the affronted tone he’s sure would be in David’s voice when the control panel lights up with a rebooting sequence. 

“ _ Thank you for your patience. The issue has been resolved and all rides will be up and running again shortly. Have a wonderful day at Jurassic World!”  _

Sending another smile over to David, Patrick grabs the lever to continue to the swamp. Those maiasaura are really cool and he wants a closer look. 

* * *

Hours later, Patrick pushes himself back from the table, stomach full to bursting with takoyaki and sliced abalone. Four years ago, his idea of good sushi started and ended with California rolls and spicy tuna. This was on such a different level that it was hard to even compare it to the prepackaged boxes he used to get at the Bento Sushi back in Blind River. 

Next to him, David is finishing the last of his uni, his face the picture of bliss. It’s an expression not that far off from the look he’d had while devouring Kraft Dinner at midnight in their kitchen a few weeks ago, but Patrick’s not going to tell him that. 

“I’ve always heard Masahiro Yoshitake’s sea urchin was the best you’d ever taste, but I never got the chance before we lost the money,” David says, sitting back after all but licking his plate clean. “I think I’m ruined for all other sushi now.”

“Oh no,” Stevie says, deadpan. “I guess we’ll have to cancel our monthly trips to the all-you-can-eat place in Elmdale then.”

David’s face twists to the side. “Okay, no, that will not be necessary.”

Patrick can’t resist. With Stevie travelling so much over the past year, they haven’t been able to indulge in their favourite joint past-time of winding David up. “But if you’re ruined for all other sushi, David, what’s the point? I would hate for you to have to force down subpar sushi.” 

“Okay,” David says, turning and pointing a finger in his face. “First of all -”

“Oh my god, David, look!” Alexis interrupts, reaching across the table to grab David’s hand. Which is actually pretty impressive aim given that she’s not even looking and David is gesticulating with his usual fervour. “Is that Whytney Lang?”

“What?! Where?” David whirls around and scans the area where Alexis is pointing. Patrick follows his gaze, hoping she’s wrong. Other than Sebastian Raine, Whytney Lang is the last one of David’s exes he wants to run into. 

“Over there by the bar! In that super cute little red Louis Vuitton!”

“Oh my  _ god _ ,” David says, hands flailing. “Why the fuck would she be here?”

“David, oh my god, remember the time she went skinny-dipping with Justin Bieber at your thirtieth birthday party?”

“Um, it was my twenty-eighth and I had to have that pool drained after what they did to it! Oh my god, what if she comes over here?!” 

“David, calm down. Just do what I do when I run into an ex - think about everything they’re missing out on. And wear whatever shoes make your ass look the best,” Alexis says, tossing her hair over her shoulder. 

“Or,” Stevie jumps in before Patrick has a chance to, “we pay and head to a bar down the street for drinks.” She shoots Alexis a significant look but it’s hard to tell whether it was received. 

“That sounds like a great plan, Stevie,” Patrick says, probably overenthusiastically. “Doesn’t that sound like a great idea, David?” Okay, he’s definitely overselling this now. But David is sitting there with a furrow in his brow and hunched shoulders and Patrick is desperate to change that. 

Because Whytney Lang didn’t just cheat on David like so many of his other exes. She cheated on him and then dumped him publically over Twitter the day of his thirtieth birthday - Patrick sends a quick apology to David in his head for agreeing with Alexis’ about that detail. David had been both humiliated and heartbroken and that was before the aforementioned pool incident. 

Thankfully, either his overenthusiasm or Stevie’s pointed look seems to have gotten through to Alexis who’s nodding emphatically. “Yeah! Yes! That sounds like an  _ amazing  _ plan, Stevie!” 

David is glaring at them all suspiciously. A massive improvement over looking like a kicked puppy, in Patrick’s opinion. He looks like he’s going to argue for a second, pride winning out over comfort. But his expression settles and he nods. “That - that sounds like a good plan, yes. Let’s do that.” 

Rushing while trying not to make it obvious, Patrick calls over their server and they quickly settle the cheque. As unobtrusively as possible, they make their way to the entrance. Patrick is about to breathe a sigh of relief that they’d made it out without attracting Whytney Lang’s attention when Alexis calls for them to wait. 

“I forgot my lip balm at the table! Wait right here, I’ll be back in just one tiny sec!” 

“Alexis, leave it. I have lip balm upstairs from the store.”

“David, save your stuff for yourself! I’ll be super quick!” 

“Alexis -” Patrick tries to interject, but she’s gone before he can say anything more. She beelines for the table, obviously trying to be as quick as possible. 

Unfortunately, not fast enough. 

“Oh my god, Alexis Rose?” 

Patrick feels David tense next to him and he immediately reaches out to lay a hand on his lower back, offering silent support. 

“Whytney! Oh my god! It’s, like, so good to see you!” Alexis is bouncing her hands like she does when she’s nervous. 

“You too! What are you doing here? I wouldn’t think you could afford a place like this after your family lost all that money.” 

Heat rushes through Patrick’s body and his heart starts to race. It’s not a feeling he gets very often - a kind of irrational anger that only comes out when he’s feeling particularly protective. He watches as Alexis’s smile turns brittle but she doesn’t miss a beat. 

“Oh my god, I know. It was, like, so awful when all that happened. But I’m actually working for Jurassic World now.”

“Wow,” Whytney replies, in a voice that’s not even trying to sound interested, “that’s awesome. What about your brother? What’s David up to these days?” She looks around, obviously searching for David. 

Alexis opens her mouth to reply but before she can say anything, Whytney’s eyes fall on David, half-hidden behind Patrick. 

“Fuck,” David whispers behind him. Patrick turns to push him out of the restaurant - might as well abandon all pretense and just flee at this point - but David is already straightening his back and walking forward. 

“Whytney, so nice to see you.” And that’s David’s fake voice - the one he uses when he’s desperate for the world not to see him as he is. “What are you doing here?”

“David,” Whytney smiles way too wide to be real and walks over to kiss David on the cheek. 

Patrick clenches his free hand in an effort not to throw himself in front of his husband. 

“So nice to see you,” Whytney continues. “You’re looking ... good.” 

Something about the way she says ‘good’ makes Patrick want to throw something. David is a bundle of tension next to him and he moves to wrap himself more firmly around his husband. 

“Thank you.” David’s voice is still brittle. “This - this is my husband, Patrick.” He gestures wildly and Patrick catches his hand, bringing it to hold by his side. 

“Oh wow! You got married? That’s so incredible that you found someone!” 

Patrick likes to think of himself as non-violent but this situation is offering a serious challenge to that self-image. “Hi Whytney,” he chokes out, trying to avoid a scene for David’s sake. “We were actually just on our way out.” 

“Oh, yeah sure,” Whytney replies, pulling out her phone. “Don’t want to keep you. But, it was, like, so good to see you, David. It’s been too long!” She doesn’t even look up as she types something out. “Me and Madelynn are heading over to that super tacky tiki bar down the promenade. You should come by later!”

“Hmmm,” David replies. “Well, that sounds like fun. We’ll definitely have to think about that.” 

Patrick is itching with the desire to get him out of there. David’s tone is one he hasn’t heard in months - since well before the wedding. He hates hearing it again, a too vivid reminder of disastrous barbeques and painful history lessons. 

Whytney looks up to shoot David a condescending smile. She hasn’t once bothered to acknowledge Stevie standing on David’s other side, he notes. She turns to go and they can blessedly make their escape. 

Not bothering to wait for Alexis to catch up, Patrick herds David out of the restaurant and into the quietest corner of the lobby, Stevie following close behind. 

But Alexis moves disturbingly fast, especially given the height of her heels. “Oh my god, David! I am so sorry! I totally didn’t think she was going to see me!” Patrick winces, wishing she’d held back for a minute to give David some time to process. He’s not always at his best when he feels like his vulnerabilities are on display. 

Case in point. “Of course you didn’t Alexis. That would require thinking about someone other than yourself.” 

Alexis takes a step back, looking like she’s been slapped. Guilt flashes across David’s face but it’s quickly buried under a look of icy indifference that Patrick recognizes as one of David’s many defence mechanisms. 

“Well, I’m sorry for walking across a restaurant, David! Maybe if you ever just took my advice, you wouldn’t be in this position.” Alexis pulls out her phone and turns away. 

Stevie has backed a few paces away, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. 

“Okay,” Patrick says, slipping his arm around David and trying for a sense of calm. “We’re all tired - maybe it’s best if we just have another early night.”

“That’s fine. I have other plans anyway,” Alexis says with a dismissive toss of her hair. 

David rolls his eyes. “Of course you do,” he says under his breath. 

“Ugh, David!” Alexis whirls around with a glare. “Maybe if you ever just let yourself have fun for once, people would actually want to hang around you.” 

It’s David’s turn to look wounded and then Alexis is stalking away, heels clicking over the tile floors of the lobby. Rubbing David’s lower back, Patrick closes his eyes for a minute and sighs - it had been such a good day, too. 

“Want to come to my room and get high?” Stevie asks the first words she’s spoken since they got up from the table. 

“Where the fuck did you get weed  _ here _ ?” There’s a pinched look on David’s face and he’s not looking at either of them. 

“I have connections,” Stevie replies in the deadpan tone she uses to rile David up, moving toward the elevator bank. Patrick gently guides David to follow her, seizing on the change of subject. 

“Hmmm, do you mean that guy you were flirting with at the monorail station earlier?” he teases and sees David’s eyes light up with this new information. 

“I knew there was a guy! And who exactly is this unwitting tourist?” One of David’s eyebrows quirks up. 

“Who says he’s a tourist?” Stevie says, jabbing the elevator button. “Buy me a bottle - or five - of room service wine and maybe I’ll tell you more.” 

The doors open. David goes to walk in but Patrick holds him back with a hand on his elbow. 

“You go on up, Stevie. We’ll be right over. I just need to grab my phone charger from our room,” Patrick says. David shoots him a look, obviously not buying the excuse, but doesn’t say anything more. 

Neither does Stevie who just nods and lets the doors slide closed. 

Patrick ushers David into the next available elevator and turns to face him as the doors close. Now that they’re alone, he’s not entirely sure what he wants to say. “David -”

But it turns out he doesn’t need to say anything. David sighs and seems to deflate, sagging forward and letting Patrick take his weight. “I know. It wasn’t her fault.” God, Patrick loves him. 

“No, but she didn’t exactly help the situation either. And you were understandably upset after seeing Whytney,” he tries to put all the disgust he’s feeling into the name. 

“Fuck, Whytney. She was a pretentious asshole, anyway,” David shakes his head like he’s trying to throw off the encounter. Unfortunately, Patrick knows from experience that it’s going to take more than that. He lets it go for tonight, though. “I’ll apologize to Alexis tomorrow,” David continues. “Just, tonight, can we … can we just take tonight?” 

“Of course we can,” Patrick answers as they arrive at their floor. He leans forward to kiss his husband, trying to press all his love and reassurance into David’s lips. “There's lots of time to talk to Alexis tomorrow.” 


	5. The Tyrannosaurus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s over thirty feet long from nose to tail and stands twenty feet off the ground. Skin a mottled green and covered in what looks almost like feathers, it stands eerily still as it surveys the clearing. Even through the glass, Stevie can smell a nauseating mixture of old blood and rotted meat emanating from it. After a long minute, it steps forward with the same incongruous grace with which it first appeared. Eyes focused intently on the goat, it moves forward, footsteps making the floor vibrate under Stevie’s feet. She holds her breath, hardly able to believe she’s seeing a T-Rex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone reading! It makes me so happy that other people like my weird little crossover. 
> 
> Content note for this chapter: non-graphic animal harm and death (see end note for details), panic. The next several chapters all contain non-graphic references to animal, dinosaur and human harm and death. I'll add details in the end notes of each chapter but please reach out if you need more information or have any questions.

Stevie is stretched out on a massage table at the Claw Spa - a name that inspired a five minute rant from David about the appropriate use of puns in place names - which is never, apparently. She’s worried though- five minutes is almost restrained by Rose standards. Soft music is playing and firm hands are chasing down every spot of tightness in her back, making her feel heavy and boneless as she relaxes into the table.

She looks over at David, lying on the table to her left. His face is hidden in the face cradle but she knows him well enough that she can see the lines of tension the massage therapist is futilely trying to work out of his back. He’d seemed pretty relaxed by the time he and Patrick stumbled out of her room last night - the excellent weed Barry hooked her up with doing its job nicely - but he’s a mess this morning.

Catching Patrick’s eye from where he’s lying on the table to David’s left, she sends him a questioning look. He shrugs helplessly and bites his lip. Alexis had texted first thing this morning to say she was busy and wouldn’t be joining them until later. Something ‘super important’ had come up and she was going to meet them outside the mosasaur lagoon after lunch. Which, conveniently, is when David is signed up for the paleobotany tour. The spa is Patrick’s attempt to distract David from spiralling out about Alexis avoiding him.

Not that it’s working particularly effectively.

She wonders whether Barry could get her any more of that weed. They could all use the relaxation. And it would give her an excuse to use the number he’d programmed in her phone before she’d gone down to breakfast the day before. She knows he’s still around because he works at the park. Their conversation in the bar hadn’t been anything like _personal_ but he’d been excited to tell her about his work with the velociraptors - some sort of training program that sounded wildly risky to Stevie.

She’s pulled from her thoughts as Tama runs her hands firmly down her back one last time. “Okay, I’m just finishing up here, Stevie. How are you feeling? Any spots still feeling tight?”

Stretching out, Stevie does an inventory. Clearly, there is something to this whole ‘high-end, luxury’ thing - she always feels great after the massages she gets at the spas in Elmdale County, but this is on a whole different level. She’s not sure whether it’s the massage oil - which David was thrilled to hear is all-natural and organic - or if Tama is just that good, but Stevie feels amazing. She tells Tama that, thanking her sincerely, and turns to watch as David and Patrick sit themselves up.

Tama and the other two therapists leave them alone to get their robes back on before their next treatment. Unfortunately, neither Patrick nor David looks anywhere near as relaxed as Stevie feels.

She hates this - hates the undercurrent of tension, hates the pinched look on David’s face, and really hates everything bubbling over into a fight like in the lobby last night. It’s not the same thing, she knows, but people fighting like that always reminds her of things she’d rather not think about.

So, she doesn’t. “What’s next?” she asks, as obnoxiously bright as she can manage. “Are we doing that prehistoric mud wrap you told me about, David?”

Evidently, that’s the right thing to say. David rears his head back, a look of abject disgust on his face - far preferable to the pained guilt he’s been wearing all morning. “No. Absolutely not. I draw the line at _prehistoric mud_.”

“But, David, it’s supposed to ‘send your skin back in time.’ How can we resist?”

David looks horrified. “Okay, let me tell you all the ways in which that is incorrect. One, …”

Patrick catches her eye. Without interrupting David, who’s in the middle of a particularly passionate point, he sends her a look of gratitude and mouths _thank you_.

“... and finally, prehistoric implies _old and rotted_ which is the last thing that should be part of a proper skincare routine!”

“Okay, David.” Patrick’s smile has gone from relieved to _sappy_ and while that’s worlds better than the melancholy tension of earlier, it’s far too gross to be allowed to continue.

Fortunately, that’s when Tama knocks on the door to tell them their next treatment is ready. It’s earth stone facials, not the prehistoric mud wrap because, yeah, she’s not going to say it to David but that does sound pretty disgusting.

As they gather their things, Stevie notices David check his phone, lips twisting at the lack of notifications. Patrick’s asking Tama for more details about the spa so she takes a deep breath - this whole _best friends_ thing is so fucking annoying sometimes.

Slapping David on the shoulder, she grabs his phone. “You know she’ll get in touch when she’s ready,” she says at his outraged look.

His face falls. “I know. Just, what if …”

“You scared her away for good this time?” A small nod. “David, you were an asshole last night, that’s true.” He looks down. “But so was she. And it’s going to take a lot more than a few asshole comments to tear down the relationship you two have built.”

David looks up and years ago, the tears in his eyes would have been enough to make her run very far away. Now, they prompt her to reach out and grab his hand. Fucking personal growth.

He nods and shakes himself off. His ability to shove things down and pretend like they don’t bother him was one of the first things that drew her to him - a mutual sense of recognition that blossomed into so much more. He squeezes her hand. “Come on. All that fucking air travel was a nightmare on my skin.” His eyes narrow as he examines her. “Yours too, from the look of it.”

“You’re the worst - you’re lucky I bother spending any time with you at all.”

There’s a pause in which she wonders if that was too far. But, of course, David hears what she’s actually saying. He always does.

“Yeah,” he smiles. “I really am.”

* * *

_Thud._

The security glass looking over the tyrannosaurus feeding area shudders and the heavy gate rattles in its struts.

_Thud._

A hum of excitement runs through the crowd filling the viewing pavilion and Stevie takes a step forward in anticipation.

_Thud._

For a minute, the only sound is the terrified bleating of the goat tied to a stake in front of the viewing glass.

The trees rustle.

Then, with disconcerting agility, the tyrannosaurus steps into the clearing.

Stevie holds her breath. A few months ago, she’d read an article about how the word _awesome_ technically means ‘inspiring great apprehension, admiration, or fear’ and not just ‘great’ but she didn’t really see the difference at the time. She does now. Because the tyrannosaurus standing in front of her is _awesome_. In every meaning of the word.

It’s over thirty feet long from nose to tail and stands twenty feet off the ground. Skin a mottled green and covered in what looks almost like feathers, it stands eerily still as it surveys the clearing. Even through the glass, Stevie can smell a nauseating mixture of old blood and rotted meat emanating from it. After a long minute, it steps forward with the same incongruous grace with which it first appeared. Eyes focused intently on the goat, it moves forward, footsteps making the floor vibrate under Stevie’s feet. She holds her breath, hardly able to believe she’s _seeing a T-Rex._

“It’s huge,” Patrick breathes next to her, the awe in his voice mirroring her own.

The tyrannosaurus stops in front of the goat, a low rumble coming from its chest. It lowers its head and opens its massive jaws. Something like a wave runs through the crowd, people stepping backwards and gasping in shock at the astonishing _size_ of the dinosaur’s mouth. It’s so big it could ingest an entire adult human in one massive bite. And the teeth - they’re over eight inches long and look sharp enough to cut steel.

They’d seen three other carnivorous dinosaurs since parting ways from David two hours ago. The mosasaur was incredible - almost impossibly big and agile, it tore a shark in half right in front of them. They’d barely been able to see the carnotaurus - its daytime camouflage hiding it thoroughly even while it was feeding. And the raptors moved so fast and with such precision, they’d torn the cow they were feeding on apart before she’d even had a chance to get a good look.

But this. There’s a reason the T-Rex is the most famous predatory dinosaur. A monster from a primordial age come to life in front of her and she’s so excited she doesn’t know what to do with herself.

The tyrannosaurus opens its jaws and the bleating of the goat cuts off abruptly.

“Oh, that poor little goat,” Alexis says behind her, face hidden behind her hands. “Ugh, maybe David has the right idea.”

Stevie ignores her, although she wonders privately what had made Alexis think she’d enjoy this. While she’s never been anything less than adventurous, she also shares her brother’s distaste for anything bloody and gross.

Not that Stevie’s going to waste her time trying to figure out what’s going on in the head of a Rose. That way lies madness. And _a Tyrannosaurus Rex_ is standing in front of her, blood dripping down its snout, too-keen eyes already looking around for another meal. The feeling she’d had the day before - that deep-down instinct that makes her want to freeze in her tracks - returns with a vengeance.

“I never imagined it would be like this,” Patrick says, “look at how fast it moves!”

“I know,” she replies, not taking her eyes away from the dinosaur. “It’s like it -”

But she never gets to finish that sentence.

The voice on the speaker that’s narrating the feeding procedure for the tyrannosaurus cuts off with a deafening squeal of static. Stevie slams her hands over her ears and sees everyone around her doing the same.

On the other side of the glass, the dinosaur roars in fury, shaking its head to escape the dreadful noise.

Then, with the same suddenness with which it started, the noise stops.

Silence falls and Stevie breathes a sigh of relief. Under the hum of people talking around her, she can hear her own harsh breathing and the rustle of the wind in the trees.

But something is missing.

It takes about thirty seconds too long for her to realize what it is.

She can’t hear anything mechanical. No noise from the nearby monorail, no tinned music, no cheesy narration.

And no hum of electricity coming from the security gate.

“Oh my god,” Patrick whispers behind her.

“I know,” Alexis responds, “that was the worst! I really need to get them to fix that - no one is going to want to -”

“No,” Stevie says, unable to tear her eyes away from the security gate ten feet away. The one she knows is held together with an electromagnetic lock. An electromagnetic lock that currently has _no electricity_. “That’s not the problem, Alexis.” Is that a gap between the gate and the rest of the fence? She can’t tell from this distance and she can’t seem to make her feet move.

“Come on,” Patrick says, his voice firm, “we should get out of here.”

“Why?” Alexis asks, phone in hand. “I’m sure they’ll get the power back up and running in a sec.”

_Thud._

With slow-dawning horror, Stevie finally tears her eyes away from the gate to watch as the tyrannosaurus, blood still running down its snout, takes another step closer.

 _Thud_.

Oh fuck.

A voice, magnified and distorted by a megaphone, cuts through the anxious murmuring of the crowd.

“ _Folks, we seem to be having a few technical issues today. If you would all please move calmly towards the exits. We’ll be closing the exhibits until our technicians have a chance to fix the issue_.”

Stevie feels frozen in place, watching as the dinosaur steps closer to the gate, an expression almost like curiosity on its face. God, she realizes, it _knows_ the electricity is off. It can hear it.

Patrick grabs her by the hand and as she turns to face him, she recognizes the shocked fear on his face. “We need to _go_ ,” he says, tugging on her arm.

Fuck, yes. Stevie’s legs unlock and she moves with Patrick, each of them grabbing one of Alexis’s arms and steering her toward the exit of the pavilion. The crowd is moving slowly around them, the truth of what’s happening not yet sunk in. Patrick moves with a steady determination, obviously in a hurry to get them out of there, but trying not to cause a panic.

They slow down as they approach the exit gate, the crowd forming a bottleneck. Ahead of her, Patrick’s shoulders are set in a tense line as he scans the crowd for the quickest way out.

Stevie risks a glance behind her. The tyrannosaurus isn’t visible through the glass anymore and her eyes move to the gate.

And the unmistakable sight of a _claw_ pushing its way through the growing gap.

Someone screams, obviously having noticed the same thing as Stevie. Confusion ripples through the crowd and there’s a brief moment of stillness. And then panic - the crowd screaming, pushing, surging forward toward the exit.

Stevie grips Alexis’s hand and tries to hang on as they’re thrown around by the terrified masses around them. Patrick shouts something but she can’t hear him over the screaming.

A thunderous roar splits the air followed by the bone-chilling sound of metal scraping along metal. And Stevie panics - shoving forward mindlessly, fingers digging bruises into Alexis’s arm.

For a minute, the only thing she’s aware of is the suffocating press of bodies all around her. Patrick shouts again and she’s jerked forward with a force that almost rips her hand away from Alexis. Then, finally, she pops out of the exit and into the open air.

The three of them stumble forward, the growling and screaming at their backs propelling them onward for god knows how long. When the crowd around them finally thins out, Patrick tugs them to a stop and they turn around, panting for breath.

It’s chaos.

Whatever’s happening to the T-Rex enclosure is apparently not an isolated incident. Terrified people stream from the buildings all around them, screams and shouts splitting the air. But what terrifies Stevie the most, is what she can hear underneath the screaming - growls and roars and inhuman shrieks that make the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

Alexis steps forward, her mouth hanging open and her eyes as wild as Stevie has ever seen them. “Oh my god. This is - this is bad.” Her voice is weirdly calm, though. Way calmer than Stevie thinks she could manage at the moment.

“ _Fuck!”_ she hears from behind her and turns to see Patrick angrily jabbing at his phone. At her questioning look, he sighs in frustration. “I can’t get through to David - something’s blocking the signal.”

And oh fuck. David. Who’s currently somewhere in the jungle on what was supposed to be an entirely safe paleobotany tour. Patrick jams his hands through his hair and paces forward. “What - what do we - how -”

Stevie has to step up. Patrick is panicking and everything is terrible and someone needs to take control and figure out what to do. She opens her mouth and -

“Okay. We need to get back to the main promenade,” Alexis says before Stevie can get a word out. “The tour guide will bring everyone back to the main area as soon as they realize something is going on. That’s where all the emergency services are. It’s the safest place.”

Stevie’s hit with a sudden rush of half-remembered stories - fleeing from the Yakuza, Somali pirates, Ugandan diamond smugglers. And yes. Okay. She forgets sometimes, caught up in the image of towering heels and designer dresses, that Alexis can be terrifyingly competent when she needs to be.

She nods and grabs Patrick’s arm to stop his anxious pacing. “You’re right. She’s right,” she says turning to Patrick. “The tour guide will take them back to the main promenade - we can meet David there.” God, she hopes she sounds more confident than she feels.

It doesn’t end up mattering though. From behind them, there’s a thundering crash and the entrance to the T-Rex enclosure collapses like it’s made of straw. Unbothered, the tyrannosaurus steps over the rubble, looks around at the crowd around it, throws its head back and _bellows_.

They run.

* * *

They run for what feels like hours. The crowd ebbs and flows around them, screaming parents clutching at crying children and confused staff trying in vain to restore some sort of order. They don’t run into any more dinosaurs, but the sporadic sounds of roaring and shrieking and growling they can hear are enough to keep them moving forward.

At one point, Stevie glances up and spots black shapes moving through the sky. Are those pterosaurs? What the _fuck_ is going on? It’s like every enclosure on the island failed at the exact same moment on the exact same day. An image of pressed Hawaiin shirts and military-grade sunglasses flashes unbidden through her mind. There’s no way this could be _purposeful_ though, right? No one out there would be cold-blooded enough to let an island full of dinosaurs loose on a bunch of tourists.

Right?

She doesn’t have time to pursue that thought though. They round a final corner in the path and see the main pavilion and promenade in front of them.

Alexis was right. Everyone on the island seems to be gathering in the streets in front of the pavilion. People are obviously still afraid, some even down on the ground nursing minor injuries. But the overwhelming sense of panic from earlier is less here - the comforting presence of technology and civilization offering reassurance.

They make their way through the crowd, calling out for David. Patrick keeps trying his phone - but with everyone around them doing the same, it’s nearly impossible to get a signal.

Stevie jumps as another squeal of static echoes out over the crowd. A man in what she can now identify, thanks to David, as an Armani suit, is standing on the steps of the pavilion, megaphone in hand.

“ _Can I please have everyone’s attention?”_

No response from the crowd.

“ _Attention everyone!”_

Still nothing.

A deafening squeal of feedback, obviously orchestrated by the woman standing next to Mr. Armani, and the crowd finally settles and turns to face the pavilion.

“ _Thank you for your attention_ ,” says the man. “ _We at Jurassic World want to apologize for the technical difficulties today_.”

A ripple runs through the crowd at the most inane corporate double-speak Stevie has ever heard.

The man she’s decided must be a hapless bureaucrat, continues. “ _We are experiencing several containment anomalies in our exhibits this afternoon and we ask for your continued patience and cooperation while we restore our systems_.”

 _“‘Containment anomalies_?’” Patrick whispers incredulously beside her. A few feet away, Alexis huffs in frustration, shoving her phone into her almost comically tiny purse. She looks around, spots something, and starts pushing her way through the crowd.

“Alexis! Where are you going?” Patrick calls after her. They share a look and then take off after her. Reaching a free picnic table, Alexis climbs up on it, heels knocking hollowly against the wood. She draws herself up to her full height and starts turning in a circle, searching the crowd.

Picking up on what she’s doing, Patrick clambers up next to her. “Do you see him?”

“No, and he should be here!”

“The tour would come back here, right?” Patrick asks, eyes frantically scanning the crowd. Stevie would climb up next to them but the table is creaking under their combined weight and she doesn't want to risk it.

“The tour?” Alexis asks. “Oh! You’re looking for David!”

“Yes?” Patrick replies, shooting her a look. “Aren’t you?” he asks in a pointed tone.

“Of course I am, Patrick,” Alexis huffs. “I’m just looking -”

Patrick’s phone buzzes in his hand. He jolts and looks down at it desperately. “It’s David,” he chokes out, answering the call and putting it on speaker.

“David?!”

“Patrick!” David’s voice comes out in a terrified whisper. “Oh my god, Patrick!”

“Where are you? Are you okay?” Patrick demands, eyes wide and wild.

“I don’t know,” David says, still in that horrible whisper. “I - it’s still - I saw -”

Alexis grabs for the phone. “David! We can come help you - I just need to find -”

She’s cut off by a low rumble that makes Stevie’s blood run cold. She’s heard that sound before. Half an hour ago.

Just before the tyrannosaurus opened its jaws to swallow the goat.

David screams - an inhuman sound.

And the phone goes dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content note: reference to a shark being eaten by a much bigger animal, non-graphic description of a goat being eaten


	6. The Paleobotany Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They’re in a gorgeous outdoor garden - lush ferns rising over thirty feet around them and sunlight dappling the jungle floor. He never thought he’d like a garden without flowers but this is incredible. A light pink plant catches his eye and he moves over toward it, pulling out his phone. 
> 
> Before he gets there, there’s a burst of static from the tour guide’s walkie-talkie, cutting her off mid-sentence. She frowns at her headset and turns the dial down, apologizing to the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting into some action-heavy chapters here, so they're a bit shorter than the earlier ones. Fortunately, that means the editing process is also going a lot faster! 
> 
> Sorry for the cliffhanger last time - I'm not sure you'll be much happier with me after this chapter, though. 
> 
> Content notes for this chapter: mention of gunshots, mention of harm to a dinosaur, panic
> 
> Thanks again to everyone reading! You all make my day!

“ _Amborella trichopoda_ is of particular interest to paleobotanists as it split off from the lines that lead to all other currently-existing flowering plants more than 130 million years ago!” Aarzoo, the tour guide currently leading David’s group, pauses with a huge smile on her face. “Does anyone have any questions before we move on to our prehistoric fern garden?” 

David tunes out a man asking a complicated question about pollination and turns his attention to the creamy white flowers of the plant in question. They’re lovely - simple and delicate, yet unlike any other flower David has ever seen. He can see the difference in the petals - or in what should be the petals. Because the plant doesn’t have any. Instead, it’s all one structure, with leafy appendages that turn white at the ends. 

He snaps a picture with his phone and adds it to the folder still entitled Wedding Flowers that he started keeping after Patrick proposed. The wedding is long past - and David’s meticulously chosen flowers didn’t even get to be part of it anyway - but he got in the habit of collecting pictures of flowers he liked and he’s kept it up in the months since. It’s a fun little hobby and it’s helping to keep him focused on the tour instead of on the turmoil inside his head. 

The sad thing is, he’s been looking forward to spending time with Alexis. Does he wish they could have done it somewhere with less humidity and more art galleries? Yes. But he’s missed her. More than he thought he would. After sharing a motel room with her for four years, he finds it surprisingly hard to not have her around all the time. 

Apparently she doesn't feel the same. 

Sighing, he refocuses on the tour as Aarzoo calls for them to follow her into the fern garden. 

“Ferns first appeared in the Carboniferous period and they predate flowers, dinosaurs, and even seeds,” Aarzoo explains, with infectious enthusiasm. She reminds David a bit of Alexis - along with the curls and the wide, open smile, they both have an easy charm about them - an ability to talk to anybody that David has always envied. 

Part of the problem is that he and Alexis had been getting along so well. Even with the ‘technical difficulties’ in their gyrosphere yesterday - and, for a high-tech amusement park, this place sure does have a lot of ‘technical’ issues - they’d honestly had a great time together - laughing and joking and mocking the blatant nerdy excitement on Patrick and Stevie’s faces. That had lasted until dinner. 

And Whytney. Fucking Whytney. She’s the last person he was expecting to see here and it’s fucking him up. Patrick and Stevie know the broad details - the cheating, the Twitter dumping, the pool incident. But it’s harder to talk about the small things. Like the way she’d always downplay the things he was excited about. And how she’d ask him questions in a way that made it sound like he was stupid. And the time she laughed at him when he asked her to play with his hair in bed - telling him to ‘man up.’ 

And now she’s here. On the same island as him. And his husband. And David should be over this. He has Patrick now. Patrick who tells David every day how much he loves and respects him. Who’s never laughed _at_ David in bed - although they laugh together all the time. Patrick who makes him feel strong. Capable. Deserving. 

But one two-minute conversation with Whytney and he gets so defensive he turns around and lashes out at Alexis. What the fuck is wrong with him? What if he’s just destroyed four years’ worth of relationship-building with his sister? 

Patrick and Stevie have both assured him he hasn’t - and David knows they’re right. He knows. It’s just … the last time he and Alexis had fought like this when they _weren’t_ living together - they hadn’t spoken for a year. And he’s not sure he can survive that now that he knows what it’s like to talk to her all the time. 

“-ferns have barely changed at all in the past 350 million years,” Aarzoo is saying and David shakes himself. He needs to get a grip. This tour has been his favourite part of the island so far and he’s not going to let fucking _Whytney Lang_ take that away from him. 

They’re in a gorgeous outdoor garden - lush ferns rising over thirty feet around them and sunlight dappling the jungle floor. He never thought he’d like a garden without flowers but this is incredible. A light pink plant catches his eye and he moves over toward it, pulling out his phone. 

Before he gets there, there’s a burst of static from Aarzoo’s walkie-talkie, cutting her off mid-sentence. She frowns at her headset and turns the dial down, apologizing to the group. 

David shakes his head. The amount of weird little things that have happened on this island is wild. How the fuck is this place supposed to be _safe_ if they can’t even keep the lights on or the walkie-talkies working? 

They go on with the tour, passing through the fern garden and out into the open jungle next to the tyrannosaurus enclosure. David glances over that way but can’t see anything through the dense jungle. Patrick, Stevie and Alexis are supposed to be around here somewhere though and he hopes they’re having a good time. 

They make their way down the path, pausing to examine any plants of note. Slowly, David becomes aware of a sound in the distance. At first, he thinks it must be excited tourists on the river tour nearby. The closer they get, though, it sounds less like _excitement_ and more like _terror._

Terror. Coming from the direction his husband, sister, and best friend are supposed to be. 

David looks around. He’s not the only one who’s freaked out - people around him are murmuring to each other uncomfortably. Even Aarzoo looks nervous, glancing down at her silent headset and swivelling her head around, searching the jungle around them. David reaches for his phone - he needs to call Patrick. 

Out of nowhere, a group of people burst out of the jungle and into the path in front of them. David jumps backward letting out a shout that gets swallowed up by the screams around him. 

It must be a group of lost tourists, scared by whatever is happening on the path ahead of them. But when he gets a closer look, there’s no way that’s the case. These people are wearing all-black camouflage, combat boots and tactical sunglasses - they look _military_. And are those _guns_? David takes several steps backwards, clutching his phone to his chest. What the fuck is going on? 

But the new group barely spares David’s tour a glance - regrouping and moving down the path with a precision that could only come from professional training. 

“Who were they?” a middle-aged man asks next to him. “Is this part of the tour?”

“Sorry folks - they must be having some sort of issue with the park. If you would all wait here for just a minute, I’ll call in and find out what’s going on,” Aarzoo says. She’s clearly trying for reassuring, but the waver in her voice gives her away. 

David turns back to his phone, panic starting to creep in along the edges of his brain. He hits the button to call Patrick and … nothing. The call drops without ever connecting. 

Okay, he can’t have a panic attack right now. He needs to keep it together. 

And that’s a resolution that isn’t helped by the increasingly agitated crowd around him. Or the stricken look on Aarzoo’s face when she turns back to the group. “Folks, I’m sorry, we’re currently having some technical difficulties and we need to head back to the main area of the park. The monorail isn’t working at the moment, but they’re sending some vehicles to pick us up. If you follow me along the path, we should meet up with them shortly.” She does an admirable job of sounding calm and collected, but there’s an unconvincing smile on her face and a tremor in her voice that are making David nervous. 

There’s nothing else to do but follow the group, though. He keeps trying his phone, hoping to get through to someone - anyone at this point. But he can’t get any sort of signal. In between attempts, he scans the dense foliage around them for … well, he’s not sure what, but whatever is going on, he wants to know if it's coming their way. 

“Okay, folks, we’re almost there - just keep following me,” Aarzoo calls. 

_Thud._

What the fuck was that? Aarzoo stops in her tracks, terror flashing across her features.

 _Thud._

Screams erupt from the group around him and one man turns in his tracks and bolts back down the path the way they’d come. 

_Thud._

What the fuck is that? The panic David has barely been keeping at bay is clawing up his throat, choking his breath. He wants to run, but where the fuck would he go? Into the jungle? Down the path farther into the island? Safety is ahead of him. _Patrick_ is ahead of him. 

But Aarzoo, the only one who knows where they’re supposed to be going, is staring into the jungle, muscles stiff and eyes wide. Somewhere behind him, a child is crying and people are shouting and jostling around him. 

He turns back around just in time to see it step onto the path twenty feet in front of them. 

David’s entire body goes cold - something more intense than any panic he’s ever felt washing over him and turning his muscles to jelly. He can’t even scream, although the people around him are more than making up for his silence. 

The monster is huge - tall as a two-storey building and so wide it takes up the entire path in front of him. Blood is dripping from its enormous jaws and its eyes are trained on the small group of people in front of it. On David. 

From somewhere to his left, there’s a gunshot and the beast in front of him jerks backward, swatting at its chest. It turns to face the jungle and _roars_ , the sound thundering over them and breaking the terrified spell that had been keeping the group frozen to the path. 

People scream and scatter - some down the path and some into the jungle around them. David can hear Aarzoo shouting, trying to direct people to follow her but it’s too late. Something about all the people running must trigger something in the beast - it roars again and takes a step toward them, the ground shaking as it moves. 

And that’s what finally does it - three tons of bloody death moving toward him. David’s muscles unlock and a scream tears its way out of his throat. His brain fills with white static and he turns, running without direction, without purpose. The only thought in his mind is _get away_. 

Chaos surrounds him - people running frantically in all directions, screaming children, monstrous roaring splitting the air, and the echo of more gunshots reverberating through the jungle around him. He doesn’t stop to pay attention to any of it - running forward mindlessly, jumping over logs and ducking under branches with agility he didn’t know he possessed. 

Oh my god, what the fuck is going on? Did _that thing_ escape from its cage? Who the hell are the soldier-people running around with guns? And god, what about his _family_? They were supposed to be touring the area where the monster had come from. Fuck, why the hell had they come to this godforsaken place?

He’s panting for breath, muscles screaming at him. Branches tear at his clothes and, for the first time in his life, he doesn’t care at all. He’d sacrifice a thousand of his knits if it would mean he could _go home_. 

David’s not sure how long he runs, panic driving him far beyond his normal endurance. The foliage around him gets denser. Darker. His pulse is pounding so loud in his ears he’s not sure what else he’s hearing. Is that more roaring? Or just the wind?

Eventually, he can’t run anymore - lungs screaming for air and muscles failing. He stumbles to a halt next to what he thinks is a drainage pipe large enough to fit a fully-grown adult. 

Pressing himself back against the pipe, David frantically scans the jungle around him. He can’t hear anything - not even bird calls. Is that a bad sign? He thinks that’s a bad sign. 

Sweat is dripping down into his eyes and when he reaches up to wipe it away, he realizes he’s still clutching his phone - fingers white where they’re gripping the case. 

Acting almost totally on instinct, he jabs the button to call Patrick again, raising the phone to his ear with trembling hands. 

It connects this time. Thank god. 

“David?!” Patrick’s voice is frantic but _alive_. David lets out a shaky breath. 

“Patrick,” he whispers, not waiting to make enough noise to attract the attention of anything that might be lurking out there. “Oh my god, Patrick!”

“Where are you? Are you okay?” Patrick’s voice is the best thing he’s ever heard in his life and he presses the phone to his ear, trying to get it closer. 

“I don’t know,” he chokes out, panic scattering his thoughts. He just wants Patrick. “I - it’s still - I saw -”

Suddenly, Alexis’s voice comes over the phone and David’s heart clenches. “David! We can come help you - I just need to find -”

A horrible low rumbling fills the clearing around him. His stomach plummets and he turns, feeling like he’s moving through molasses. 

It’s standing right there. A monster from a primordial past. 

A scream tears its way out of his throat and the phone slips from his fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry! 
> 
> If it helps, I'm a firm believer in happy endings. It just might take a little bit more time to get there.


	7. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reality is, he has no idea what to do. His husband is lost, alone somewhere in the vast jungles of the island. He’s probably starving - it’s hours since they had lunch. And, oh god, his clothes must be wrecked by now. And Patrick has no idea how to help him. He has no idea where to even start. 
> 
> But apparently Alexis does. 
> 
> “Follow me,” she says, cutting her way through the crowd, “I have a plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content note for this chapter: mention of blood, panic, non-graphic dinosaur-related violence

“Every tour group is back in the main area of the park and everyone is accounted for. Your brother is around here somewhere, have you tried calling him?” 

“I’ve told you five separate times that he called _us_ and he’s lost somewhere out there,” Alexis bites out. 

“Miss, you must be mistaken. If you would just take another look around, I’m sure he’s here. Jurassic World takes the safety of its guests very seriously and -” 

“Oh my god!” Alexis glares at the bureaucrat with undisguised contempt. She leans in and whispers something that Patrick can’t hear but that makes the man turn several shades paler. With a decisive, and dismissive, toss of her hair, she turns on her heel and strides back to where he and Stevie are waiting. 

“Come on,” she says, not even slowing as she passes them, typing something into her phone. 

“What? Alexis, wait! David’s out there somewhere - we need their help to find him!” Patrick knows his voice is edging toward desperation and he wholeheartedly doesn’t care. He can’t stop hearing the horrible scream David let out just before the call cut off. What could have made him scream like that? What if he’s hurt? Bruised or bleeding? What if he’s de…

With tangible effort, Patrick wrenches his mind away from that train of thought and focuses back on Alexis.

“... never going to help. They’re too worried about keeping the media from finding out just how badly they messed up.” 

She’s right, he knows. After David’s horrifying phone call, they’d made a beeline for the pavilion and the park employees trying to restore some kind of order. They’d had to fight their way through throngs of people demanding answers but they'd finally snagged the attention of a harried-looking woman in a beige uniform. Not that she’d done anything to help other than call over another employee who had listened to their story, nodded, and directed them to the useless bureaucrat.

Patrick’s sure the only reason they got any attention at all is because Alexis kept throwing around words like _public relations disaster_ and _media scrutiny_. But even that isn’t enough, considering they’d just been dismissed by a Vice-President of Guest Relations who had been more interested in echoing the corporate party line than on Patrick’s missing husband. 

He scrambles to keep up with Alexis who is moving faster than her heels should logically allow, Stevie almost jogging alongside them. Ever since David’s call, Alexis has turned into a version of herself Patrick has only seen a very few times. She’s rarely anything less than self-assured, but now she’s radiating a take-charge energy that’s the only thing keeping Patrick from panicking.

Because, the reality is, he has no idea what to do. His _husband_ is lost, alone somewhere in the vast jungles of the island. He’s probably starving - it’s hours since they had lunch. And, oh god, his clothes must be _wrecked_ by now. And Patrick has no idea how to help him. He has no idea where to even _start._

But apparently Alexis does. 

“Follow me,” she says, cutting her way through the crowd, “I have a plan.” 

Stevie looks at him, her face drawn and pale. He wonders if she’s feeling the same guilt as him for being so excited to be here. David hadn’t even wanted to come and, _oh god_ , Patrick had talked him into it. Had told him it would be _safe_. Had made fun of him for worrying. And now David might be -

No. He can’t go there. Alexis has some sort of plan that she’s marching them towards. And Stevie is holding it together impressively well despite her obvious fear. They both love David so much and if they can keep it together, he can at least try to be as brave. 

They make slow progress through the anxious crowds around them. Shouted names and crying children echo around him and the scent of sweat and blood fills the air. Thank god Alexis is so tall and distinctive - it would be way too easy to get separated among the throngs of people. 

Feeling himself fall behind, Patrick jogs a bit to catch up and looks over at Alexis’s face. At first glance, she looks calm - steadfast and resolute. But the tension around her eyes and the grim set of her mouth give her away.

“He’s fine,” he says, as much for himself as Alexis. “We’re going to find him and David is going to be fine.”

Alexis shakes her head and straightens her shoulders. “Obviously, Patrick! Ugh and he’s going to be so annoying about everything too. He’s the _worst_ when something like this happens.”

“Um, when has something like _this_ happened before?” Stevie cuts in. 

“Well, not _exactly_ like this,” Alexis says, waving her hand. “There were no dinosaurs that time, obviously. But oh my god, David whined for like a _year_ and the tiger wasn’t even fully-grown! He barely needed stitches!”

Patrick has no idea what she’s talking about but bewilderment about an Alexis story is such a familiar feeling that it’s almost comforting. He makes a mental note to ask David about this one - and please god, let him get the chance to ask David - and nods. “I know - he’s going to be awful. I can’t wait.” 

Something flickers on Alexis’s face that compels him to reach out and grab her hand. Then, he reaches behind him to snag Stevie’s hand for good measure. Holding onto the other two people David loves most in the world makes Patrick feel steadier than he has since before the T-Rex escaped.

Alexis clings to his hand. The tightness of her grip makes him glance back over at where she’s staring at him, her eyes wide and uncertain. “Patrick, the last thing I said to him …” 

He squeezes back. “Is something he knows isn’t true,” he says, the conviction in his voice completely genuine. “Alexis, you both said things you didn’t mean last night. He knows as well as you do that none of them were true.” 

She blinks for a second, blue eyes damp. Patrick feels almost honoured that he’s among the small group of people she lets see her when she’s vulnerable. On his other side, Stevie lets go of him and moves around Alexis to take her other hand. The sight bolsters something in him. David is lost and alone, yes. But he has them - his family. They’re going to find him and he’s going to be okay and then Patrick can spend the next _year_ not letting David out of his sight. 

He’s very determinedly not thinking about the last noise he’d heard David make. 

Alexis tosses her hair back over her shoulder with a quick shake of her head. The action seems to settle something in her - she pushes the tears back and pulls them both along faster. They’re heading in the direction of the lagoon, he realizes. 

“Oh my god, Alexis!” A high-pitched voice shouts from somewhere to their right. “Alexis Rose!”

Patrick looks over, following the voice. Fuck. Whytney Lang. They don’t have fucking time for this. 

“Keep going,” he says to Alexis’s back.

“Duh,” she responds with a wave of her hand. 

But Whytney apparently has Alexis’s gift for speed-walking in heels, appearing in front of them like the spectre of Instagrams Past. 

“Oh my god! You have to help us!” she shrieks.

“Whytney, move. I have more important things to worry about,” Alexis replies, stepping around her. “Go find an employee or something.”

Whytney grabs Alexis’s arm. “You told me you worked here! I’m a VIP customer! It’s your job to help me!” 

Patrick has seen a lot of moods from Alexis over the years. While a sort of joyful optimism is typically her default, he’s seen her annoyed, heartbroken, overwhelmed, apprehensive. But he doesn’t think he’s ever seen genuine _rage_ from her. Until now.

She yanks her arm out of Whytney’s grasp and draws herself up to her full height - which is not inconsiderable, especially with those heels. “Take your hands off of me. I was trying to be, like, polite or whatever last night, but don’t think I don’t know exactly what you did to my brother.” Alexis’s face is practically unrecognizable - fear and anger turning her usual bright smile into a stiff rictus. “If you get in the way of me helping him now, I will leak that video of you in Ibiza.”

Whytney pulls back like she’s been slapped and there’s still enough of Patrick’s brain not blaring DAVID DAVID DAVID that he can appreciate Alexis’s efficiency. But whatever Whytney’s reply would have been, he’ll never know. As she steps forward, her eyes land on something over Patrick’s shoulder and widen. A piercing scream erupts from her open mouth and she stumbles backward, tripping over the curb. 

He turns, his heart in his throat, to see a flock of pterosaurs diving toward the crowd around the pavilion. Chaos breaks out again as people scream and scatter, shoving their way into whatever building they’re closest to. Patrick grabs for Alexis and Stevie, thinking to pull them into the gift store to their left. But before he can take a step, a massive grey creature drops from the sky, landing on Whytney’s dark brown hair. She screams again, batting frantically at the pterosaur. Patrick can only gape in horror as the dinosaur tightens its claws and lifts off, Whytney firm in its grasp. 

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” Stevie is chanting next to him, panic strangling her voice. Alexis runs forward, grasping at Whytney’s legs before she’s lifted out of reach. But the pterosaur is too strong. And fast - soaring twenty feet up in a blink of the eye. Another dinosaur slams into the pterosaur making it lose its grip and sending Whytney tumbling back to the ground. 

Patrick watches helplessly as she falls, Alexis’s scream echoing in his ear. He hates Whytney for what she did to David, but he doesn’t want her to _die in front of him_. Fortunately, she lands on the canopy outside the gift store with a loud _whump_. The fabric holds for a minute and then rips, sending her falling the rest of the way to the ground. It’s enough to save her life - though maybe not her outfit.

Whytney’s friends (or employees? Patrick’s not sure) who have been huddled uselessly on the other side of the street, rush forward to gather around her. 

Pterosaurs are still diving and swooping all around them - he sees several bodies lying in the street and spares a moment to hope they’re not dead. Stevie is pale and stiff next to him, staring at Whytney with horror on her face. Patrick gets it - he can’t believe any of what’s happening. Was it only two hours ago that he was happily watching the T-Rex through impenetrable safety glass? 

He shakes himself - he can’t do this right now. They can’t stay here - David is somewhere out there and he needs Patrick’s help. 

Alexis must have the same thought. “Come on,” she yells, “we need to go!” Patrick and Stevie react as if on automatic, turning to fol low Alexis and leaving Whytney to whatever care her minions can offer. 

They tear through the crowded streets, dodging panicked tourists and dinosaurs plunging to the ground all around them. Over the din of the terrified masses, Patrick can hear the faint pleas of park employees on megaphones trying futilely to direct people to safety. 

They reach the edge of the mosasaur lagoon safely. Alexis grabs Patrick and Stevie by the hands and ducks into a small alley leading to a door marked Employees Only.

“I don’t think we can get in there,” Stevie says, panting for breath, her face still so pale. 

But before Alexis can answer, the door swings open to reveal the last person Patrick ever expected to see on this island. 

“Ted?!” Next to him, Stevie stops short, her voice incredulous. “What the flying fuck are you doing here?”


	8. The Drainage Pipe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tears rolling down his face, David pushes himself as far back into the drainage pipe as he dares to go. He’s terrified of what might be lurking in the darkness that starts a few feet further on down the pipe. But he’s much more terrified of what he knows is waiting for him outside. 
> 
> The pipe vibrates with every step the dinosaur takes. A smell of rotted meat reaches his nostrils as the footsteps stop and an enormous head comes into view at the end of the pipe. David claps his hand over his mouth to stop a whimper that’s threatening to escape. Nostrils the size of dinner plates breathe in and David curses his penchant for the Mennonite-made cologne he’s wearing. No matter how handsy it makes Patrick.

Tears rolling down his face, David pushes himself as far back into the drainage pipe as he dares to go. He’s terrified of what might be lurking in the darkness that starts a few feet further on down the pipe. But he’s much more terrified of what he _knows_ is waiting for him outside. 

The pipe vibrates with every step the dinosaur takes. A smell of rotted meat reaches his nostrils as the footsteps stop and an enormous head comes into view at the end of the pipe. David claps his hand over his mouth to stop a whimper that’s threatening to escape. Nostrils the size of dinner plates breathe in and David curses his penchant for the Mennonite-made cologne he’s wearing. No matter how handsy it makes Patrick. 

Fuck, Patrick. At the thought of how frantic his husband must be, David tries to press himself even further back into the thick, unforgiving metal of the pipe he’s wedged into. 

The monster outside opens its mouth and its breath is enough to make David’s stomach roil. He almost throws up but the sight of rows upon rows of razor-sharp _teeth_ freezes every muscle in his body. David’s been scared before - plenty of times - but this is the first time he’s ever felt like _prey._ The feeling pings something deep in his hindbrain - a primitive urge left over from when humanity shared space with primordial predators. 

And then the dinosaur’s _tongue_ snakes into the pipe, searching for the source of the smell. Searching for _David_. That thought unlocks his muscles and he scrambles back into the darkness until his back hits a metal grate that’s blocking off the rest of the pipe. David can’t help a terrified whimper from escaping his lips and the dinosaur grunts in response, tongue stretching out toward him. 

Giving up on trying to stay quiet, David runs his hands desperately over the grate, searching for a latch, a lever, _anything_ that will let him escape the probing tongue and those horrible _teeth_. His hands find a gate but when he tries to open it, the metal doesn’t even budge. It’s locked. Fuck. It’s locked and he’s stuck and he’s going to _die_. 

He’s outright sobbing as he squeezes himself into a corner and makes his body as small as possible to avoid the tongue still sweeping across the inside of the pipe. He can feel the animal’s hot, rancid breath and he sees the remnants of its last meal still stuck in its teeth. David squeezes his eyes shut and waits. 

But the tongue never makes contact. The dinosaur grunts again and this time it sounds almost frustrated. David pries his eyes back open and sees the tongue still only feet in front of him but no longer moving forward. 

It can’t reach him. 

David lets his breath out slowly. It can’t reach him. 

He takes a few deep breaths in, trying to bring his brain back online enough that he can _think._ Okay, he’s not going to die right this second but that hardly means he’s _safe_. He’s trapped in a disgusting drainage pipe, there’s a vicious monster trying to eat him, the entire park seems to be undergoing some kind of meltdown, and there’s a bunch of creepy people with fucking guns running around. If he gets out of this, he’s going to _murder_ Alexis for forcing him to come here. 

Because he’s sure she’s okay. She and Stevie and Patrick are safe and nowhere near any carnivorous beasts. He’s sure. Completely and totally positive. They’re safe and that’s it. He knows because there’s no other acceptable option. 

David looks around, trying to ignore the grunts and snarls coming from the opening of the pipe. There has to be another way out of here. It’s hard to see anything in the gloom of the pipe so he feels around with his hands trying to find a way out - a hatch, a door, even a weapon he can use. 

There’s nothing - only the cold, slimy sides of a drainage pipe that’s been in use for years. David really, really does not want to go any further down the pipe - he can’t see more than a metre beyond the grate and he has no idea what might be lurking down there. But he’s not seeing another choice right now. The monster outside - and okay, fine, he knows it’s a t-rex, but excuse him for not wanting to admit to himself that a _Tyrannosaurus Rex is trying to eat him_ \- seems to be getting angrier the longer it can’t get in, snarling and biting at the pipe like it wants to break it open. Compared to that option, the unknown of the darkness is almost appealing. 

Moving carefully back over to the gate he found earlier, David runs his hands over it again. It’s covered in slimy algae and moss, but David thinks it might not actually be locked, just rusted over. He braces himself against the grate and gives it a good yank. The gate moves slightly, but the squeal of rusted metal only seems to provoke the dinosaur outside. It roars - a deafening, echoing sound that makes David want to curl up on the ground with his hands over his head - and then steps back and away. 

For a second, David dares to hope that it’s giving up. 

Then, without any warning, a massive force slams into the side of the pipe, knocking David over and crumpling the metal across from him. David looks up from where he’s landed on the other side of the pipe and sees, to his horror, that where solid metal used to be, now there’s a _crack_. The pipe shudders again as the dinosaur rams into it for a second time. David braces himself, barely breathing. Fuck, he wants to be somewhere else. _Anywhere_ else. He’d cuddle up in bed with _Roland_ if it would mean he could get the fuck out of here. 

Oh god, he can see the monster through the crack now. David fights the sudden urge to be sick, a cold sweat breaking out over his body. 

A third hit and the crack is wide enough to fit one of the creature's short arms. It’s not long enough to reach David, but he clambers backward anyway. As he does, his eyes fall on the gate.

The _open_ gate. 

It’s only a small gap but it’s enough to get his fingers in. The dinosaur’s attack must have knocked it open. Not that David much cares _how_ it happened - it’s a chance and that’s all the matters. He scrambles toward it, holding on to the grate to keep his balance as the tyrannosaurus slams into the pipe for a fourth time. 

David slides his fingers into the small gap between the gate and the side of the pipe and _pulls_ with all his strength. It must have been loosened by the dinosaur’s attack because it slides another half a metre with an awful crunching squeal. The tyrannosaurus hits the pipe again, widening the gap even further.

But it’s also widened the crack in the pipe just enough for its snout to creep in. That long, muscular tongue returns, sweeping across the pipe and this time David knows he’s well within range. He shoves himself toward the gap in the gate, praying he’s gotten it wide enough. 

Not quite. David gets jammed halfway through the gap - his wide shoulders holding him in place. A wet, slimy _thing_ touches his leg and panic floods through him, all rational thought disappearing in a refrain of _oh god no please please don’t let it get me Patrick help please god no_. David _throws_ himself forward with all the unnatural strength of panicked terror. 

There’s a loud _rip_ and a slashing pain to his arm. David slips through the gap and crashes to the ground on the other side, the dinosaur’s tongue grasping futilely at his ankle. But David doesn’t stop, crawling and scrambling forward, desperate to get away. He goes for long minutes, finally collapsing to the disgusting floor of the pipe when his gasping sobs leave him too breathless to continue. 

Behind him, the tyrannosaurus is roaring with fury. David curls up in a ball and tries to get his breathing back under control. There’s a warm, tacky wetness on his upper arm and his entire body feels bruised and battered. But he barely takes note of any physical sensations, tumbling forward into a panic attack worse than any he’s had in years. 

Oh god, he was almost _eaten._ By a _dinosaur_. This - he can’t do this. He’s not Patrick or Alexis or anyone else competent and capable. He’s David Rose - flighty, useless, panicky David Rose. And now he’s all alone and being hunted and _he has no idea what to do_. Fuck, Whytney and Sebastien and all the others were right. He’s a pathetic, useless mess. Look at him - sobbing and gasping and huddled on the ground. David’s going to die here and it’s going to be all his own fault. 

He has no idea how long he lies there, listening to the dinosaur’s rage and trying to pull himself together. Eventually, the dinosaur quiets and starts pacing back and forth beside the pipe. David tries to go as still as possible, hoping that the monster will decide to just _go away_. 

For the first time in hours, his optimism is rewarded and he hears the tyrannosaurus’s footsteps moving away. David keeps himself still as he listens with gasping gratitude until the last of its footsteps fade into the distance. The noise of the jungle slowly starts back up again - birds chirping in the trees and small animals rustling in the undergrowth. 

David closes his eyes, leans back and just lets himself breathe. 

But he can’t linger here for long. As much as he’s tempted to just curl up in a ball and go to sleep, the pipe is nowhere near safe and he needs to find his family. He has no idea what the fuck is happening on this godforsaken island but all he wants is to find his people and get the fuck out of here. So he pushes himself up, muscles screaming in protest. After ascertaining that none of his injuries are life-threatening - and taking a moment to mourn the loss of his floral Givenchy sweater - he’s left with a choice. Head back out the way he came in - and risk running into the murder lizard that had just tried to eat him - or try his luck with the rest of the pipe. 

A high, piercing call disrupts the peace of the jungle. A call that doesn’t sound like any bird David has ever heard. Okay, nope. No. He’s not waiting around to see whatever homicidal murder reptile shows up next. 

He turns around and heads into the darkness. 

*******************

The pipe goes on for what must be at least a kilometre. David’s trying to be as quiet as possible, keeping one hand pressed along the side of the pipe to orient himself. He’s trying very hard to ignore the slimy _things_ his fingers keep running into (or the thought of any of the other _things_ that might be lurking in the darkness). And when he has to wade through a section filled with hip-deep water he breathes through his mouth and thinks happy thoughts about luxury knits and high thread-count sheets. And Patrick. 

After what feels like hours of walking, he suddenly realizes he can see the wall in front of his fingers. Soft, grey light is filtering through the darkness ahead of him. David almost sobs with relief, stumbling forward. 

He comes to another gate - this one thankfully much better maintained. It opens with barely a sound and he steps out into what looks like the ruins of a basement. It’s grey and gloomy, dirt caked over the walls and floor, mouldy boxes stacked in the far corner. Most importantly, it’s empty. Thank fuck. 

David closes the gate behind him and flips the latch hoping it will keep out any monsters that try to follow him down the pipe. He steps into the basement and heads for the stairs on the far side of the room, not wanting to say in the damp, mouldy cellar any longer than he has to. 

On the ground floor of the building, he finds a huge lobby surrounding a wide, circular staircase. Where the fuck is he? All the buildings he’s seen on this island have been high-tech, ultra-modern architectural monstrosities. This place looks like it was built in the eighties - all laminate wood and faux-brick walls. It’s hideous in a completely different way than everywhere else in this tourist-trap hellhole. 

There’s a long strip of paper under the leaves and dirt covering the floor. David brushes part of it off with his foot and reads LCOME TO JURASSIC P in large print. Oh fuck. Is this part of the original park? That one that had never even made it to opening day before all those people were killed? 

For a second, David wants to sit down and cry. He’s exhausted and starving and his fucking sweater is fucking ruined and he didn’t even want to come to this stupid fucking island in the first place. And now he’s almost been _eaten,_ he knows what a _dinosaur tongue_ feels like, he’s climbed through a dirty, slimy, disgusting drain pipe, and now he’s somewhere in the middle of a fucking jungle and he has no idea what to do. Fuck, he wants his husband. More than anything, he just wants to be home in their comfortable, gorgeously-decorated cottage, a roaring fire in the background and something delicious simmering on the stove. 

He almost gives in. Almost lets himself curl up in a corner and sob and wait to be rescued. This is too much - David can’t do this. He’s not made for this. He’s useless in a crisis - worse than useless, usually - a panicky, needy mess. And now he’s going to die out here because he can’t get his shit together enough to figure out what to do. 

_So do something about it_ , a voice that sounds disturbingly like Alexis whispers in his mind. 

At the thought of his sister, David forcibly yanks himself out of his anxiety spiral. No, he’s not going to prove everyone from his former life right and fall apart right now. He’s not that person anymore - he’s David Rose of Rose Apothecary, Patrick’s husband, a prominent member of the Elmdale County business community. He needs to keep his shit together - at the very least, he can’t die without making things right with Alexis. 

And maybe that’s his answer. Alexis. Who’s never met a situation she couldn’t figure a way out of. He’s always alternately hated and admired that about her. So, okay. He’ll deny this to the ends of the earth, but David takes a deep breath and asks himself. What would Alexis do?

Call David is what she’d do. He’s spent years of his life never letting his phone out of his sight so he was available in case Alexis needed him. But coloured contacts and embassy connections aren’t going to do anything for him now. 

Still, the thought lingers. Call someone. If only he hadn’t dropped his fucking phone when the tyrannosaurus had stepped out of the jungle in front of him. 

But. He’s in a building that was meant to be the hub of an amusement park. It was abandoned in a hurry - there’s got to be some form of communication equipment around here. Even just a radio - if he can get a message out, someone will come to rescue him. There’s no way the park wants the bad press of another death on the island. 

Okay, he has a plan. Plans are good. Patrick likes plans and they tend to lead to good things. David makes his way toward the circular staircase leading to the second floor. He comes out in the middle of a long hallway that had, at one point, been carpeted. There are secure-looking metal doors spaced at even intervals and David can see the remnants of an old security system in the keypads and cameras. 

He picks a direction at random and heads down the hall. The security locks on the doors have long since released and he peeks his head inside each room he passes. They’re mostly offices - broken desks and chairs covered in dust and debris. 

David’s skin is prickling and he can’t stop swivelling his head, trying to monitor every direction at once. His unease isn’t helped by the _fucking claw marks_ along some of the walls. It’s been over two decades since he read the story of that first park, but if he remembers correctly a pack of velociraptors had broken into this building and almost killed a group of kids or something. 

So it’s no wonder his heart is pounding in his chest. Or, that he jumps about a metre when he hears the voices coming from a room two doors down from where he’s standing. 

“- not here. How the fuck did Hoskins expect us to find anything in this dump?”

“Keep looking. It’s got to be here somewhere.”

People. There are people here. Thank _fuck_. 

David’s filled with such a profound feeling of relief that he doesn’t stop to think. He just wants _out_ and there are people here who can help. 

“Hey! Help! I need help!” he calls as he rushes down the hall. When he reaches the door, he pushes it open and bursts into the room. 

And comes face-to-face with the barrel of a gun. 


	9. The Veterinarian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ted?!” Stevie says. “What the flying fuck are you doing here?”
> 
> Alexis ignores her and throws herself at Ted. “Oh my god, babe - are you okay?!” 
> 
> Ted’s arms come up around her and some of the tension she’s been carrying drops away. She can handle herself in a crisis, she always could, but everything just feels a little bit easier when Ted is by her side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for leaving you on another cliffhanger! I meant to get this chapter up yesterday but I got a bit distracted by _events_ this week. The good news is that the next chapter is nearly ready to go - so that will be up before Monday! 
> 
> As always, thanks to everyone reading, commenting and/or leaving kudos! You all make my day!

“Ted?!” Stevie says. “What the flying fuck are you doing here?”

Alexis ignores her and throws herself at Ted. “Oh my god, babe - are you okay?!”

Ted’s arms come up around her and some of the tension she’s been carrying drops away. She can handle herself in a crisis, she always could, but everything just feels a little bit _easier_ when Ted is by her side.

“I’m fine, babe. What about you guys?” Ted’s face is pinched with worry.

“Could we maybe have this conversation somewhere that doesn’t have dinosaurs dive-bombing us?” Stevie asks tightly.

And yeah, that’s maybe a good call, Alexis thinks. She can still hear people screaming behind them and Stevie and Patrick are both way too pale - which is saying something, considering their normal state of being - and Alexis feels a surge of protectiveness.

“Yes, of course. Come in, come in.” Ted holds the door open and ushers them in, his usual wide, friendly smile straining a bit at the corners. They rush in and Ted locks the door behind them. “Not how I wanted to have you all over, but welcome to my new office!”

They’re standing in a huge room that’s painted a hideous shade of institutional beige. Alexis has been itching to change up the colour since she first saw it a couple of days ago, but she’s been waiting to get David’s opinion. The floors are concrete and there are drains spaced out at even intervals. The equipment filling the room looks a lot like what you’d find at a vet’s surgery - just _bigger_. Much bigger. There’s an MRI machine in the corner that could fit Alexis’s entire New York apartment and a row of gigantic needles along the wall that turn her stomach just looking at them.

“Your _office_?” Stevie asks, incredulous. “You work at Jurassic World? I thought you were in the Galapagos?”

“I was but I got a call that -” Ted starts to explain.

“Could we do life updates sometime when my husband isn’t lost somewhere in a dinosaur-infested jungle?!”

Ted’s eyes widen and he briefly looks taken aback. Alexis can’t blame him - she’s never seen sweet little Patrick looking so unhinged - with his messy hair and wild eyes, he looks like he’s going to fall apart any minute.

The sight knocks down one of the carefully constructed barriers Alexis has been relying on to keep herself from panicking. An unfamiliar rush of fear flows through her - David is in trouble. Like, real trouble. What if he’s -

Ugh, no. Alexis is disgusted with herself. She’s supposed to be good in an emergency - this is what she _does_. Shouldn’t it be easier to stay calm when it’s David in trouble and not her?

Ted doesn’t miss a beat, though. “Yes, Alexis texted me. Come back with me - I have a plan.” He gestures toward the far side of the lab, past the giant examination tables and the industrial refrigerators, and toward two jeeps parked in front of an industrial garage door.

Patrick looks at Ted like he holds the key to the universe for a second and then nods and follows. Stevie’s still gaping at the room like she has no idea where she is or what’s going on. Alexis recognizes the look on her face from that time in Iquitos when they ran into that group of poachers and Miguel like totally freaked out. “Stevie, babe,” Alexis takes her hand and gently tugs until she moves to follow Patrick and Ted. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to find David and he’s going to be so annoying and whiny and complain for like for _ever_ but he’s going to be fine.”

Alexis is pretty sure from the look Stevie gives her that she’s not nearly as convincing as she wants to be. But she’s right - she has to be right. Otherwise, the last thing she’ll have said to David is that no one wants to be his friend. And she hasn’t even had the chance to tell him about Ted which was the whole reason she wanted him to come to this stupid island in the first place. But then they’d gotten here, and he’d been so _grumpy,_ and they’d kept fighting, and now she might never get the chance.

Ted stops in front of the jeep and turns back to them. “Okay, Alexis texted me just after you got that call from David. I managed to get ahold of Aarzoo - she runs the paleobotany tour - and she remembers David. She’s not sure exactly what happened to him, but she thinks she saw him running when the T-Rex attacked -”

“David was attacked by a Tyrannosaurus Rex?!” Patrick grabs Ted’s arm in a white-knuckled grip. Alexis knows all this already, but that doesn’t make hearing it any easier. Picturing David like that makes something in her chest clench. God, worrying about other people is the actual worst.

“No, slow down, bud. David wasn’t attacked. The T-Rex came across the tour and they got split up when they ran away - Aarzoo doesn’t think anyone was hurt though. And the good news is that she told me where it happened!”

“How is that the good news?” Stevie asks, voice quiet and brittle.

“Because we can use that as our starting point which is way easier than trying to search the whole island! It'll be a rawr-ing good time!” Ted’s smiling, his expression so hopeful and warm that Alexis feels it like the sun on her face. Ted’s face is still one of her very favourite things and she soaks up the sight of it while she can.

“Okay, then let’s go - what are we waiting for?” Patrick says, heading toward the driver’s seat.

“Wait -”

“I’m not going to wait anymore!” Patrick spins around, face red. “You didn’t hear him _scream_ \- he needs my help …” he stops, voice fading out on a sob. Ted steps forward, raising an arm but Patrick waves him off. He takes a breath and squares his shoulders, glaring at them. “If you all want to stay here, fine, but I’m going to find my husband.”

“We’re all going,” Ted says, face steady, uncharacteristically serious. “I promise, Patrick.”

The door suddenly rattles and starts moving upward, making them all jump back and forcing a small cry out of Stevie. “It’s okay!” Ted shouts. “That’s just the backup I called.”

As soon as the door is high enough, four people clad in black camouflage duck under it and immediately start lowering it again.

“Thanks so much for coming guys, this is -”

“Barry?!”

Stevie is staring at the man leading the group. Alexis wonders for a second if this is the guy David and Patrick were teasing her about at breakfast yesterday. She hopes it is - he’s cute for Stevie - tall and bald with a long, handsome face and dark brown skin. And some very nice muscles that look like they come from a physically-demanding job.

“Stevie? What are you doing here? They’re evacuating the park - you shouldn’t still be here!”

“It’s her friend that’s missing,” Ted says, “David Rose. This is his sister Alexis and his husband Patrick.”

Barry nods at them and there’s a look in his eyes that Alexis doesn’t know what to do with. Fortunately, he immediately switches back to business. “Okay, do we have any idea where to start looking?”

“Yeah, he was on Aarzoo’s tour when everything started. They were near the west edge of the Rex paddock. Is this everyone coming?” Ted’s looking at the small group of people with trepidation in his eyes.

“Yeah, man, I tried to get more. But things are crazy out there. It’s not just the rex paddock and the aviary - the whole security grid is down. Nothing’s working - there are dinosaurs out everywhere.”

“Fuck.” And if Alexis hadn’t already known how serious things were, Ted _swearing_ would have made it abundantly clear.

“How the hell are we ever going to find David on an island full of escaped dinosaurs?” The panic that had faded from Stevie’s voice when Barry and his team arrived is back in full-force and Alexis can’t blame her. Somali pirates and the Yakuza are one thing - Alexis knows how to deal with _people_ \- but how the hell do you sweet-talk your way out of getting eaten by a _dinosaur_?

“Henar and Doris both know how to track,” Barry says, gesturing to the two tall women standing next to him. “Once we get out there, they should be able to pick up David’s trail. But we should go now while we still have the light.”

Patrick is moving before Barry finishes speaking but before he can climb into the driver’s seat, Ted gently redirects him. “Better if I drive, bud. I know the island better and I can get us there quicker.” Patrick hesitates, looking like he’s struggling with something. But his face clears and he nods, climbing into the backseat. Stevie goes to follow but Ted stops her too. “It might be better if we split up into two teams - cover more ground. Would you be okay with going with Barry’s team? They know tracking but you know David as well as anyone.”

Stevie nods, pressing her lips together firmly. Alexis feels a rush of gratitude - this is what’s different. Before, it had always been just her and David - he was the only one she could rely on when things got really scary. But now they have people - people who are willing to run headfirst into danger for them. The thought grounds her - they’re not alone.

As they go to pile in the jeeps, Ted pulls her to the side, a pair of horrible, ugly sneakers in his hand. “Alexis, you can’t go walking in the jungle with those heels. Think of your feet - think of your _sole_!”

“Tell that to me at 24, escaping from poachers in the Congo,” she responds. But she takes the shoes. Her feet are killing her and she’d completely destroyed those Dolce & Gabbana’s when she had to ford that flooded river.

With that, they pile into the jeeps, open the door and set off into the chaos of the island.

* * *

Leaning her head on the back window of the jeep, Alexis watches the jungle flashing by. If these had been any other circumstances, she’d be having the time of her life. She’s with a man she loves and they’re speeding through a tropical jungle on their way to adventure. It’s everything she always thought she wanted.

Alexis hadn’t been surprised at all when Ted had texted her less than a month after she’d moved to New York. They’d decided to take some time off after the breakup but neither of them has ever been very good about following through with staying away from each other. And she wants him in her life. Even if she can only have him as her friend.

They texted on-and-off for months, planning and scrapping multiple visits to each other, deciding each time that it was too much, too soon. But then Ted’s fellowship had lost its funding a month ago, another victim of the government defunding science. When he’d asked her what she wanted to do, Alexis had been so tempted to tell him to get on the first plane to New York.

But she’s _building_ something in New York. Like, something she came up with and worked for. She’s spent her whole life chasing after men, moulding herself into something different for men. This thing she’s building - it’s hers. She’s never wanted anything as much as she wants to succeed at this. And she doesn’t want to put that in jeopardy - not even for Ted.

And then the vet job had come up at Jurassic World at the same time the Masrani Corporation was interviewing Alexis for the PR position. It had seemed too perfect - a chance to see each other regularly, work for the same goal again. This was supposed to be a trial weekend, a chance to feel each other out and see if the chemistry is still there.

And for her to get the chance to get David’s advice.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” It’s the first time Patrick has spoken since they climbed in the jeep. She looks over at him in the back seat beside her. He looks awful - he’s pale and there’s sweat beaded at his brow. But there’s a sharp, determined light in his eyes and she thinks she understands what David meant when he called Patrick _incandescent_ that time they were high on that shitty weed Twyla’s step-cousin’s best friend gave her.

Ted exchanges a glance with the woman next to him. Alexis thinks her name is Henar. Whatever, she’s tall, so Alexis likes her. She doesn’t get to hang around enough tall women.

“It’s some sort of attack as far as we can tell,” Henar says in an accent that sounds like a mixture of British and Spanish. “Reports are coming in of armed mercenaries on the island. And the security system going down the way it did could only have been the result of a planned attack. There are way too many redundancies in place for it to be an error.”

“Oh my god, that’s so mean! Why would anyone attack this place?”

“It is so mean!” Ted replies with earnest sincerity. “To the people here, but also the dinosaurs! They don’t deserve to get thrown together like this - so many of them are going to get hurt or killed. Makes you wonder who the real monsters are.” Alexis’s heart clenches - god she loves him so much. “Whatever it is, though, they’re professionals. This was way too well coordinated.”

“They had to know details about the park, too,” Henar continues. “All the systems went down at the exact time when it would cause the most chaos. The Rex feeding, the raptor show, peak time for the gyrospheres. They wanted as much destruction as possible.”

Alexis shivers despite the warm humidity. She’s known a few people in her life who didn’t care about the destruction they wreaked, as long as they got what they wanted. It never ended well.

The jeep carrying Barry and Stevie slows and comes to a stop. Alexis reaches for the door handles to climb out but Ted’s voice stops her.

“Hold on. Barry’s going to get out and secure the area first - we still don’t have access to any of the tracking or security systems so we have no idea if there are any dinosaurs loose around here.

Patrick’s jaw clenches but he doesn’t say anything. Alexis wishes she could offer some sort of comfort - she hates seeing him undone like this. But she’s hanging on to her own optimism by a thread so they just sit in anxious silence

Once Barry has secured the area as well as he can with limited means, they climb out of the jeeps. It’s obvious that something went on here - even Alexis can see the mix of footprints on the dusty soil of the path. The vegetation is trampled and disturbed all around them. Two areas, in particular, had clearly seen something _huge_ move through them. There are trees snapped at the ends and towering bushes that have been crushed flat. But Alexis has no idea where to even start piecing together the exact sequence of events and, most importantly, where David could have gone.

Thank god they have trackers with them. Doris and Henar are already peering at the ground, seeing a story in the tracks that Alexis could only guess at.

“The rex came from here,” Henar says, pointing at one of the trampled areas. “It must have surprised the tour - you can see tracks of people running back down the path and into the jungle all around.”

“Is there any way you can tell which way David went?” Patrick asks, staring at the tracks like he can will them to point them toward his husband.

“Do you know if he was wearing any kind of distinctive footwear?” Doris asks and Stevie lets out a bark of laughter that sounds a bit too close to hysteria.

“Yes,” Patrick says, his face flashing through expressions too quickly for Alexis to place them. “Yes, his footwear is usually fairly distinctive. He was wearing his Rick Owens high-tops today.”

“Yes!” Doris’s shout makes them all jump. “Wait, here, there was a print over here that I thought had a Rick Owens logo - it stood out because I couldn’t imagine anyone wearing designer shoes on a jungle trek.”

Stevie snorts another hysterical-sounding laugh and claps her hand over her mouth. Doris shoots her a curious look but doesn’t say anything as she bends over the footprint.

“David would argue that fashion is non-negotiable, even in ‘this overgrown hellhole,’” Patrick explains, doing the air-quotes with a fond smile that quickly drops back into anxious worry.

Stevie steps up next to him, taking his hand and Alexis fights down a brief flare of jealousy. She’s never quite fit into the little family the three of them have built. Like, she fits because they love her and want her around, but she doesn’t _fit._ Not like those three fit together.

“Okay,” Doris declares, standing up. “I can follow his tracks for a bit, but they get messy around here,” she gestures at a point in the path near the edge of the jungle. “I can’t tell whether he went into the jungle this way or took off down the path. We might need to split up.”

“Always a great plan,” Stevie says under her breath.

“We should go now while there’s still light,” Barry says, opening the trunk of the jeep and pulling out equipment. Alexis is very happy to defer to him - she’s way out of her league here. “Stevie, you come with me and Doris down the path. The rest of you go with Henar.” He starts to pass out guns to his team and Ted. Alexis’s gut clenches - fuck, she hates guns.

Ted looks at her carefully before taking the proffered gun. She nods at him and turns to Stevie. “Be careful. David will, like, totally kill me if something happens to you.” She boops Stevie on the nose and Patrick steps in for a hug.

Then they split off and head into the jungle.

* * *

They haven’t been walking long, only about fifteen minutes, but it feels like much longer. Dusk falls a lot faster once they step into the dense foliage and the gloom only makes Alexis more nervous. The island’s communication system is still down so they’re reliant on spotty handheld walkie-talkies that cut off once they’re too far into the trees. So they have no connection to the outside world, no indication they’re on the right path, and no idea where any of the island’s _other_ inhabitants are.

Alexis should be loving this. Years ago, she would have loved the adventure of it. The danger. The adrenaline rush. But now that she knows what it means to be safe and loved and _home_ , the adventure feels a lot more traumatic than it used to. Or maybe it always felt like that and she was just desperate to feel _something_ that even trauma felt good.

She doesn’t get to pursue that line of thinking any further, though. Her train of thought is interrupted by Patrick’s dismayed shout. Henar shushes him, scanning the jungle warily, but she can’t stop him from running forward and bending down in front of what looks like a giant, broken pipe in a small clearing.

Patrick stands up and turns back to them, cradling something to his chest. “It’s his phone,” he says brokenly. “It’s David’s phone - the screen is cracked. Do you think that means - “

Alexis doesn’t wait to hear whatever he’s going to say. “He must have dropped it when he was running,” she says, turning to Henar who’s examining the ground where Patrick found the phone. “Can you tell what happened here?”

“Not exactly, but I don’t think David got hurt - at least not here. There’s no sign of a struggle. He stopped here - probably when he called you. Something else was here too - something big,” she says, pointing to the other side of the clearing. “I can’t see where David ran off to though - it’s like his tracks just stop here.”

Patrick looks stricken but something pings in Alexis’s mind. “He wouldn’t have run,” she says, hope blooming in her chest. “When he’s scared, he doesn’t run if he has a choice. He hides.” She marches over to the opening of the pipe and peers in. It’s pitch-black but there would have been a lot more light a few hours ago. “Do you have a flashlight?”

Henar hands her one and she clicks it on and looks down the pipe. There’s a gate. An _open_ gate. “I think he went down here!”

Patrick rushes to her side and peers down the pipe. “Alexis, he hates small spaces. Do you really think he’d go down here? It’s so … _gross_.” She knows what he means though - the idea of David walking willingly into a pipe coated with green slimy things is pretty unfathomable. But sometimes she knows things about her brother that Patrick and Stevie just don’t. David runs from things that scare him emotionally. He hides from things that scare him physically.

She doesn’t know how to explain all that to Patrick, so just fixes him with what she hopes is her most reassuring look. “I do. I think he went down here, Patrick. I don’t know how to explain, but I’m really, really sure.”

He hesitates - indecision warring with desperation on his face. But, after a minute, he nods and she feels a rush of warmth at his trust.

“Okay,” Ted says, coming up beside her. “If you’re sure, babe, I trust you. I'm sure he _caved_ and came in here despite how gross it is! Let’s go find your brother.”

They set off, a mix of fear and hope driving them forward into the darkness of the pipe.


	10. The Mercenary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David presses himself back into the corner and struggles to breathe through the gag in his mouth. Frustrated with himself, he tries to draw in a deep breath and stop the terrified tears from falling. He shifts his bound hands surreptitiously, searching for the slack like Alexis had taught him.
> 
> The three men and two women tearing apart what appears to be the dusty ruins of a laboratory are currently ignoring him. Thank god. Fuck, he’d been such an idiot to just run into that room without thinking. He’d just been so fucking desperate to get out of here - to get somewhere safe. Instead, he’d run right into even more danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a particularly productive day today and I didn't want to leave you on yet another cliffhanger so you get two chapters tonight! Thanks again so much to everyone reading, commenting and/or kudos-ing! 
> 
> Content note for this chapter: threats of violence, allusions to violence, non-graphic physical violence. See end-note for more details.

David presses himself back into the corner and struggles to breathe through the gag in his mouth. Frustrated with himself, he tries to draw in a deep breath and stop the terrified tears from falling. He shifts his bound hands surreptitiously, searching for the slack like Alexis had taught him.

The three men and two women tearing apart what appears to be the dusty ruins of a laboratory are currently ignoring him. Thank god. Fuck, he’d been such an idiot to just run into that room without thinking. He’d just been so fucking _desperate_ to get out of here - to get somewhere safe. Instead, he’d run right into even more danger.

It doesn’t help that he apparently surprised the two men ransacking the room as much as they’d surprised him. They recovered a lot faster than David though - grabbing him roughly as he tried to run back out the door and marching him down the hall to see the man they called the ‘Doc.’

David’s bruised face and back are evidence of just how well the subsequent conversation had gone.

When he’d failed to give them answers they deemed acceptable, they taped David’s hands behind his back and threw him in a corner. Now, as he struggles to control the fear rushing through him, the people around him tear the ruined laboratory apart. He has no idea what they’re looking for, no matter how much they’re convinced he does.

Alexis’s voice floats into his head. _“Oh, and in case you wake up in a chair with your hands duct-taped together, you can snap the duct tape by just raising your hands over your head, and then bringing them down really hard.”_ How did that work when his hands were behind him? Could he get the leverage to lift them high enough to break the tape? Somehow David doesn’t think so.

David is keeping careful track of the Doc on the other side of the room as he searches through a disgusting ancient freezer when a burly man bursts through the door.

“Vena!” The man shouts. “What the fuck is taking so long? We were supposed to be out of here fifteen minutes ago! The ship isn’t going to wait forever.” He crosses his arms over his chest, glaring at the Doc.

“This place has been abandoned for almost three decades, Hoskins,” the Doc (or Vena? Dr. Vena? David’s not sure) says peevishly. “It’s not like we can just look up where they left the codes.” He gestures to a bank of ancient computers on the far wall. The ferns growing out of the nearest one would seem to prove his point.

“Well, how much longer is this going to take, Vena? Cause if you haven’t noticed, we’re kind of on a clock here,” Hoskins bites out impatiently. “You said you could find this stuff.”

“And I will,” Vena snaps back. “Just do your job and keep everyone distracted and we’ll find it - it’s here somewhere!”

“Well, do it before any of those critters we let out of their cages find their way in here.” Looking around impatiently, Hoskins’ eyes fall on David, who is currently trying to make himself as small as possible against the far wall. “Who the fuck is that?”

Vena glances up and sighs. “That,” he said, “is a lost tourist. Or so he says.” Hoskins' gaze bores into him and David shrinks back against the wall. “And since, as you keep reminding me, you’re the boss here, I thought I’d leave it up to you to figure out if he’s telling the truth.” David bites back a whimper as Hoskins’s eyes narrow in interest.

Shivering despite the humid evening air, David can only watch as Hoskins makes his way around the lab bench in the middle of the room. He flinches when Hoskins reaches for his face only to breathe a sigh of relief when the only thing he does is pull down David’s gag.

“What’s your name kid?” Hoskins says, the smile on his face somehow more terrifying than the jaws of the T-Rex had been. He slaps David heavily on the shoulder and cruelly digs his fingers under the bone.

“David Rose,” David manages to choke out, still trying to disappear into the wall. “I’m here with my husband and my sisters. They’re looking for me. My sister works for the park.” Years ago, he’d read somewhere (or is this one of Alexis’s horrifying tidbits of advice?) that you should try to humanize yourself if you ever get kidnapped. Supposedly it’s harder to kill someone once you start to think of them as a person. But somehow he doesn’t think that will be an issue for the man standing in front of him.

“Not gonna be much of a park for her to work for after tonight,” Hoskins replies, the friendly tone of his voice contrasting sharply with the fingers still digging into his shoulder. David winces, trying to get his breathing under control.

Hoskins glances around at the barely-controlled chaos in the room before turning back to David, the smile dropping off his face. “In fact, I’d say we’ve got less than an hour before this whole place is overrun,” he says, his tone still incongruously casual. “But don’t worry kid - we’ve got a bunch of trucks waiting out back to get us safely out of here. The only question is whether you’ll be joining us.”

David feels frozen to the wall, trapped between its unforgiving solidity and the threat he can feel emanating from the man in front of him. He twists his wrists, trying to loosen the duct tape digging into his skin.

David’s trying desperately not to fall face-first into a panic attack. But he’s beyond exhausted and the horrifying things he’s seen today are making it really hard to stay calm. Especially with the man in front of him invading his personal space.

Except Hoskins has fallen silent, still smiling that god awful smile. Is David supposed to respond? What is he supposed to say? He definitely doesn’t want to _join_ them, whatever that means. But the thought of being left here tied up with monsters like the one outside the pipe running around … his gut clenches at the thought. Or, _oh my god_ , what if Hoskins means David either goes with them or they _kill him_?! Fuck, he’s so terrified and so tired of being terrified and just so fucking exhausted that he feels sick with it. He wants Patrick. Expect, god _no,_ the thought of Patrick being here, being _in danger_ , possibly being _hurt_ …. David can’t handle that. No, Patrick is somewhere safe, thank god - away from scary monsters and even more scary men.

A shift in Hoskins’ expression interrupts David’s increasingly frantic spiralling. He’s starting to look impatient. David needs to say something. Okay, he’s just survived a day in a jungle filled with carnivorous dinosaurs - he can open his mouth and say something.

Trying to look as unthreatening as possible, David takes a deep breath and responds, “Join you?” Okay, so not the most clever response and he hates that the waver in his voice gives away how scared he is, but at least he said _something_.

“Well, we don’t exactly have a lot of extra room, you see? I’m not sure we can afford to take you if we don’t know if we can trust you. And since my colleague over there,” Hoskins gestures over to Dr. Vena, “doesn’t really buy the whole ‘lost tourist’ act, it’s up to me to figure out if you’re who you say you are.” He brings his other hand up to run it gently through David’s hair, a mockery of comfort.

David can’t help his full-body shudder and he hates how it only makes Hoskins’ smirk grow. “Please,” he manages, before his mouth is too dry to continue.

“Now, we’re getting somewhere,” Hoskins grins. “Why don’t you take me through your story and I’ll see if I find you any more convincing.”

David stutters his way through another recounting of every stupid fucking decision that had led him here. When he’s done, Hoskin steps back for a second and David feels a flicker of hope flare in his chest.

Then David’s head is snapping to the side as Hoskins’ hand collides with the side of his face.

David stumbles but catches himself before he falls. A sob escapes his throat before he can stop it and then he’s being dragged back up by his hair.

“You expect me to believe that shit? That you somehow just wandered into an operation that’s taken _years_ to plan because you ran away down a _pipe_?” The disconcerting friendliness is gone, replaced with cold anger that makes David’s stomach roil.

“I know, I know - it sounds crazy. But, I swear, it’s just a long run of terrible luck. Which is very par for the course for me. I mean, I’ve had so many people screw me over, I should have predicted that coming here would be a disaster. Like, the only things in my life that aren’t disasters are my husband and my store,” he’s babbling, overwhelmed and desperate. “My husband - he’s looking for me - I won’t tell anyone this story, I promise. No one would believe me anyway - everyone in my life knows how over-the-top and dramatic I am. I’ll tell them I got lost on the tour and your men found me and rescued me. I won’t say anything else, I swear. I’ll just say …”

He cuts himself off when he realizes Hoskins is laughing at him. It’s sharp and cruel and David suddenly, viscerally misses Patrick so much his heart hurts. He misses whiskey eyes and gentle laughter, soft smiles and kind touches. He misses Patrick’s strong, steady warmth and calm assurances. Fuck, he even misses Patrick’s ridiculous dinosaur facts. Maybe if David had known anything about the murder-saurus trying to eat him, he could have figured out how to get away from it without handing himself over to a band of homicidal mercenaries.

Speaking of, Hoskins finally stops laughing and directs another cold smile at David. “Thanks for that kid, I needed that laugh.” He turns around again, leaving one hand on David’s shoulder, effectively pinning him to the wall. “Vena, this is just some fucking idiot tourist. Why the hell didn’t you take care of him yourself?”

“I’ve kind of got my hands full, Hoskins,” Dr. Vena snaps. “This shit is your responsibility - just take him out back and -”

A short woman bursts into the room, a mouldy red book in her hand. “Dr. Vena,” she shouts, “we found it!”

“What? Where is it?!” Vena strides over to the woman, hand outstretched expectantly. She hands over the book - which has definitely seen better days. Vena leafs through it, a smile spreading across his face.

“Well?” Hoskins demands, still holding David pinned to the wall. He’s very happy to be ignored right now, though. Much better than the alternative. “Are those the codes?”

“They are,” Vena says, radiating smug satisfaction. “This is exactly what we need. I told you they would have kept a hard copy back in the eighties.”

“Fucking finally,” Hoskins says and Vena’s expression turns annoyed. “Now get your people out of here - we need to get off this fucking island.”

Vena looks mutinous but he doesn't argue, directing his team to clean up and head out. Hoskins turns back to David. “Well, it’s been a fun time kid - you’re a riot. But we have to get out of here before any of our little distractions find their way into the building. According to my men, Rexy’s been heading this way and I’d rather not run into her, you know?”

David has no idea how to respond - he feels cold and distant like this is all happening to someone else. But Hoskins apparently doesn’t expect an answer. “I thought about leaving you here for the big girl. She’s probably worked up quite an appetite by now.” David shudders. “But I think you’ve heard too much to take that risk.”

“No!” Desperation breaks through David’s frozen brain. “I won’t tell anyone anything, I swear. I don’t even know what’s going on - I couldn’t tell people anything if even I wanted to! Please, just leave me here and I’ll never say a word!”

Hoskins is smirking again, a cold, soulless expression. “Ah kid, you are growing on me.” He reaches behind his back and pulls out a gun. David’s stomach drops to his knees. “But I just can’t take the risk.”

David squeezes his eyes shut. Fuck, this is it. He should have known - if they’d been willing to put every person in the park in danger, there’s no way they were ever going to let him go. Oh god. He’s going to _die_. Without ever seeing Patrick again. Or telling Stevie how much he loves her. Or making things right with Alexis. Tears slip out from under his eyelids and he tries to hold a picture of Patrick from their wedding day in his mind. He waits - at least he can’t possibly get any more scared than this.

And then the floor gives a familiar shudder just as the sound of distant screams reaches his ears and David knows he’s wrong. He can definitely get more scared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content note: David is roughed up by some bad guys. They threaten him and one of them hits him across the face.


	11. The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stevie hates being damp. Almost as much as she hates being scared but that’s not something she’s thinking about right now so she’s focusing on how much being soggy fucking sucks. All her clothes are sticking to her, even though she’s wearing climate-appropriate clothing, unlike certain people. But no, that’s exactly what she’s not thinking about right now.
> 
> They’ve been walking for what feels like forever. The trail of footsteps they’d thought might be David’s had faded out not far down the path, swallowed up by countless other prints - human and otherwise. After a brief but heated debate, they’d decided to keep going, Stevie reasoning that there’s a good chance David would have stuck to the path rather than running into the jungle. Nature’s not exactly his forte on a good day and if he knew dinosaurs were running around, he’d be even less likely to leave the safety of a marked trail.

Stevie hates being _damp._ Almost as much as she hates being scared but that’s not something she’s thinking about right now so she’s focusing on how much being soggy fucking sucks. All her clothes are sticking to her, even though she’s wearing climate-appropriate clothing, unlike _certain people_. But no, that’s exactly what she’s not thinking about right now.

They’ve been walking for what feels like forever. The trail of footsteps they’d thought might be David’s had faded out not far down the path, swallowed up by countless other prints - human and otherwise. After a brief but heated debate, they’d decided to keep going, Stevie reasoning that there’s a good chance David would have stuck to the path rather than running into the jungle. Nature’s not exactly his forte on a good day and if he knew dinosaurs were running around, he’d be even less likely to leave the safety of a marked trail.

But now they’re several kilometres down the path, night is falling quickly, and they’ve seen no other sign that David went this way. Stevie’s jumping at every rustle of the jungle around her, terrified despite Doris and Barry flanking her, guns at the ready.

Not that Barry’s presence isn’t reassuring - she’s pretty sure she’d be fully freaking out if he hadn’t been here steadily moving them forward.

Stevie didn’t think she was going to see him again after that first night. But the sex had been amazing. Like, _amazing_. The weird thing, though? She’d enjoyed talking with him every bit as much as the sex. He’s funny, is the thing. And not performatively funny or cheesy funny like Ted. But bitingly, sharply funny in a way that really does it for Stevie. And that freaks her out. The only other people she’s ever slept with who could make her laugh like that were David and Emir. And look how that had gone.

But there had been enough of _something_ there that was enough to get Stevie to break some of her own rules when Barry had asked to see her again. She’d only been able to sneak away briefly so far, but they’d been planning a second date tonight. Trekking through a dinosaur-infested jungle is one way to make a date memorable, she supposes.

“Look,” Doris says, pointing ahead of them and yanking Stevie from her thoughts. “There’s a fork up ahead. What do you think we should do?” Doris directs this last at Stevie as though she has any fucking idea.

Because Stevie is getting less and less sure that David ever came down this way. Besides the lack of any further sign of him, the jungle they’re passing through is getting deeper and denser. And there are insects _everywhere_. Even in a panic, she just can’t imagine David running this far down the path _away_ from the hotel. Unless he’d had a very good reason.

“I … I don’t … what do you think?” She finally gets out, looking at Barry.

As they reach the fork, Barry steps forward and brushes the dirt off a faded sign that reads ST DOCKS next to a left-facing arrow and MAI ILDING beside another arrow pointing right. “This is from the old park,” he explains and Stevie actually feels a brief moment of curious excitement before Barry’s next words bring her back to earth. “If he made it this far, which way do you think he would have gone, Stevie? To the docks or the old main building?”

And, okay, she can do this. What would David do? Fuck, this is the reason she’s been trying so hard not to think about him. Just trying to imagine David all alone out here … she can’t. It’s too hard. So she goes with her gut. “The main building. He’d want to do whatever he could to get back to the hotel. To _us_.” To her horror, her voice breaks on the last word. Stevie tries to cover it up with a cough but from the look Barry shoots her, she’s not particularly successful.

He’s kind enough not to mention it though. “Okay. Then that’s where we’ll go.”

Doris immediately heads off to the right but Barry hangs back for a second. He puts a hand on Stevie’s shoulder and god, why the fuck is she surrounded by so many people with such sincere _faces_? Is she cursed or something?

“Are you okay?” he asks, low and earnest. And god, that’s even worse. Why does she like this guy so much?

“I’m fine. Just tired of being _damp_ ,” is the only response she can muster.

But it’s enough to get Barry to give her a small smile that she definitely shouldn’t find as bolstering as she does. Fuck, she’s going to have to think about _feelings_ here, isn’t she? Gross. Barry keeps his hand on her shoulder as they set off down the path to the main building.

Stevie needs to talk to someone about this. Someone who gets how awful and horrible things like _earnestness_ and _sincerity_ are. They need to find David.

* * *

Another two kilometres and Stevie is desperately wishing that the path was wide enough that they could have taken the jeep. Even with the sun going down, the humidity is oppressive - her shirt is soaked through and plastered to her chest and she feels like she’s wading through water with every step.

They come round a curve in the path and Barry holds up an arm to stop them. For a second, Stevie’s not sure why and then she hears it. Voices, filtering through the dense trees in front of them. She looks at Barry, eyes wide and hopeful, but his expression is tight, sweat beading on his brow. The jungle around them is eerily quiet, even the birds seeming to fall silent. After a long minute, Barry seems to come to a decision and gestures them forward into the jungle, finger on his lips in a signal to stay quiet.

Stevie creeps through the trees, following the sound of voices and flanked by Barry and Doris. They try to stay as silent as possible but it’s hard, especially with the strange, hushed quiet around them.

When they come to the source of the voices, Stevie has to stifle a gasp in her hand.

Nearly two dozen people are swarming around three army trucks parked in front of a long, decrepit building. They’re all dressed in black camouflage and at least half of them are carrying guns from what Stevie can see. At least a few of the faces look familiar - the odd-looking group of people she saw on the ferry and outside the dilophosaurus enclosure suddenly looming a lot more ominously in her memory.

But there’s no sign of David and Stevie can’t tell if she’s more disappointed or relieved. Fuck, though. What are they going to do now?

And then a horrifyingly familiar vibration rumbles through the ground and up her legs.

Barry grabs her by the shoulder and yanks her back into the jungle just as the tyrannosaurus bursts into the clearing with a deafening roar. Stevie’s legs turn to jelly and she stumbles backward, only Barry’s hand on her shoulder keeping her upright.

More people burst out of the building, guns in hand and firing wildly at the dinosaur. The tyrannosaurus steps forward, opens its massive jaws and ducks its head. Stevie squeezes her eyes shut but can’t shut out the sound of a scream that’s cut off with horrible finality. Then Barry is pulling her to the left, through the trees and around to the other side of the building.

“We need to get in there,” he whispers. “It’s the safest place.”

And David might be in there. Stevie swallows her fear, nods, and follows. They race through the trees, gunshots and monstrous bellowing at their backs. Spotting a door half-hanging off its hinges, Barry gestures to Stevie and Doris and they duck through the entrance and into what looks like a cafeteria. It’s overgrown with weeds, algae and moss streaking the walls. There are even still dishes on the tables like they’d been abandoned in the middle of a meal.

Barry and Doris split off in front of her, each of them sweeping through the room with practiced movements. “Clear,” Barry says in a low whisper. Stevie can still hear screaming, but it’s distant. And the tyrannosaurus’s roars have faded away entirely.

They regroup near the cafeteria entrance. Ahead of them is a long hallway that looks like it ends in an open, airy room. “Stevie?” Barry asks. “I think we should try and find a radio or a vehicle. We need to get you out of here.”

“No,” Stevie says firmly, surprised by her own rush of bravery. “I’m not leaving without finding David.” Barry considers her for a long second and then leans forward and drops a short, sure kiss on her lips.

“Okay,” Doris says from where she’s watching the empty hallway. “So what do we do next?”

Her question is answered by a thunderous crashing sound from the room at the end of the hallway. It sounds as though the building is collapsing. Stevie screams and ducks her head. But the crashing is followed almost immediately by the renewed sound of the tyrannosaurus bellowing.

“Not that way, then,” Barry says drily and they turn to run as fast as they can in the other direction. But Stevie is stopped cold by another sound, almost imperceptible under the dinosaur’s roars.

Screaming.

_David_ screaming.

Without thinking, Stevie whirls back around and sprints down the hallway, Barry’s shouts falling on her unhearing ears. The only thing she can focus on is the _terror_ she can hear in David’s voice. No one sounds like that unless they’re convinced they’re going to die. Stevie should know - the house she grew up in heard more than its fair share of screaming over the length of her childhood.

She tears down the hall and around the corner, snarls echoing from the room in front of her - the Grand Atrium as a sign informs her. Stevie’s heart is pounding in her ears and she’s gasping for breath. Another set of doors and she bursts into the Grand Atrium.

And stops dead.

Before her stands the tyrannosaurus, a massive shape lit from behind by the last light of the sun setting. At least thirty feet long and standing as tall as a two-storey building, its jaws are open, blood dripping from its teeth. The stench of rotting meat fills the room.

And, at its feet, bound and bruised and sobbing, is David.

“David!”

The shout comes from a small door across the room from her. It looks like it opens onto a set of basement stairs. And in the open doorway stands Patrick, face stricken and pale.

Before Stevie can react, Patrick is throwing himself across the room and toward his husband. Toward the tyrannosaurus.

David’s head jerks up and Stevie sees his expression contort through surprise, relief, and realization before finally settling again on fear. “No! Patrick! Run!”

The dinosaur roars and looks almost confused by the sight of this small creature running directly toward it. It glances down at David scrambling away as fast as he can with his hands still bound behind him and then turns towards Patrick, opens its jaws almost unrealistically wide and lets out another roar so loud that Stevie can _feel_ it as it rumbles through the room.

Patrick and David collide so hard it looks almost painful but neither seems to mind, pressing together, desperate fear radiating from both of them. Stevie can only watch as Patrick tries to help David scramble to his feet while the dinosaur takes slow, ominous steps toward them.

Time seems to stop for a moment - Patrick grasping at David’s arms. David, scrambling to his feet. Stevie, frozen on the other side of the room. Completely useless to do anything to help. And, standing like a totem of impending death above them all, the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Then - _noise_.

Ear-splitting, painful, dissonant noise. Stevie slams her hands over her ears and sees Patrick pull David into his chest, hands coming up over to cradle his head.

But the dinosaur has the biggest reaction, its roar shifting into something almost like a shriek. It tosses its head angrily and David and Patrick clamber back, putting as much distance between themselves and the dinosaur as they can.

The noise goes on - an unending cacophony so loud Stevie feels sick with it. She can’t think, can barely see. All she knows is _noise_.

And then the tyrannosaurus whips around, long tail slicing through the air and nearly catching David and Patrick. With a last bellow of pain, it exits the same way it came in.

The noise cuts off and silence falls.

It takes a minute for Stevie to adjust - the silence almost as disorienting as the noise had been. Then she’s moving - tearing across the room. She sees David’s knees buckle and Patrick catches him, lowering them both slowly to the floor.

She falls to her knees beside them, hands already reaching out to run over David’s arms. “David! Oh my god, are you okay?”

Her words are lost in the desperate litany falling from Patrick’s lips. “David, oh my god, David, are you okay? … Are you hurt? … Oh my god, baby … I love you so much.”

David is a mess - a huge bruise marring the left side of his face, clothes torn and muddy. He’s pushing his face into Patrick’s chest, sobs mixing with his own desperate pleas. But he’s alive and breathing under Stevie’s hands. She lets out a breath for the first time in what seems like hours. Patrick and David are still completely wrapped up in each other, Patrick’s hands cradling David to his chest like he’s something precious and breakable. It’s going to be a minute before either of them can focus on anything else.

Stevie’s eyes land on David’s hands still bound behind his back. The skin of his wrists is red and raw - a testament to how hard he’s been struggling to get loose. It’s something she can fix and she leans forward almost gratefully, carefully unwinding the tape. Seeing David injured like this _hurts_. But what’s worse is seeing him unkempt - like some of his armour has been stripped away, leaving him bare and vulnerable in a way that makes her want to wrap him in blankets and hide him from the world.

When David’s wrists are free, he lets out a moan that has Patrick gripping him tighter. David slowly moves his arms, Stevie offering silent support and comfort. At her touch, David lifts his head from Patrick’s chest and fixes her with a watery look. “Stevie?”

“Yeah,” she whispers back brokenly. “I’m here, David. We’re going to get you out of here.”

Suddenly, there’s a shout from the top of the spiral staircase leading to the upper levels. “David!” Alexis is bounding down the stairs, Ted hot at her heels. “Oh my god, David!”

Alexis crashes to her knees beside her brother and David lets out another sob, falling forward into her waiting arms. “Alexis, oh my god. I’m so sorry. I fucked up. I was so scared you were hurt and I’d never get -”

“David,” Alexis cuts him off, voice uncharacteristically low and calm. “Me too. I mean, I’m sorry too. I have so much to tell you and -”

“Guys?” Ted injects and David looks up at him, confusion written all over his face. “Maybe we can finish this up once we get out of here?”

And that’s a plan Stevie can get behind. She’s still on her knees, hands gripping David’s upper arms. The four of them are tangled together in a messy pile of limbs on the ground.

“Right!” Alexis shouts, bright optimism papering over the fear in her voice. “We called a helicopter, David! Like, an actual helicopter that’s going to fly us out of here.”

“Yes, I know what a helicopter is, Alexis.” Stevie’s relieved to hear David’s voice regain some of its usual biting sarcasm. He sits up and Patrick scrambles to help him, gentle hands propping David up. “How the fuck did you manage to call one, though? I thought the communication was down all over the island.” David’s voice is rough and raw. It hurts just to listen to. “And what the fuck was that horrible _noise_?”

“That was me!” Alexis declares, a wide smile on her face. “Ted told me that T-Rexes have like super amazing hearing and I was all like oh my god, that’s the way we make it go away!” There’s a weak smile tugging at the edges of David’s bruised lips as he listens to Alexis. “And so when we came out of that disgusting pipe and oh my god, ew, David, that was so gross - !”

“I know,” David responds with a shudder. Patrick’s arms tighten around him.

“Anyway, when we came out of the pipe and heard little Rexy -”

“We’re not doing _Rexy._ ”

“- roaring I said to Ted that we need to find something loud. Like, really loud.”

“I’d say you were successful,” Patrick mutters, face buried in David’s neck.

“And then I remembered from that stupid project I had to do in fourth grade - you remember the one, David? Mrs. Guthrie’s class? - anyway, I remembered that the old park had an alarm system that was tied into like volcanoes or something -”

“Geothermal energy,” Ted clarifies.

“- in case the power ever went out. So we went upstairs and found it! And set it off! And there was an old phone that’s tied into the same geo-whatever power so I called my office in New York and they like totally flipped out. Anyway, the helicopter should be here in a few minutes.”

David is staring at her, mouth hanging open. Stevie can relate. Only Alexis could figure out how to scare off a T-Rex and call them an Uber in the middle of a jungle overrun by dinosaurs.

Under the bruises and red eyes, David looks proud - the trauma of the day stripping away some of his typical artifices. “Wow, Alexis. That’s amazing. You … you saved our lives.”

“Well,” she says, with a toss of her hair. “I mean, I just remembered a thing I read once.”

David opens his mouth like he’s going to argue, but suddenly Barry is standing over them. Stevie had almost forgotten they weren’t the only people in the room. She looks up and sees that Barry and his team have spent the last several minutes securing the entrances to the building. “The mercenaries are all either dead or gone,” he tells them. “The ones that got away from the rex took off in one of the trucks. It’s clear out there now - we should move to the helipad.”

“Oh my god, yes, can we please get the fuck out of here?” David asks, obviously trying for his usual haughty tone and falling well short.

Yes, Stevie thinks. They need to get the fuck out of here. There’s time for everything else later. All she wants is to be somewhere safe and dry and then she’s going to cry for approximately the next year.

Stevie and Patrick each take one of David’s arms and lift him slowly to his feet. It’s clear that he‘s in pain - if the bruises hadn’t told a clear enough story, the wince whenever he moves would have made it obvious. He only gets his feet under him with great effort, Patrick’s arms wrapped almost all the way around his waist.

Once he’s steady, Stevie releases her grip on his arm but immediately grabs for his hand. David looks at her, tears in his eyes, and grips back just as hard.

And then they follow Alexis out the front door and toward the sound of the helicopter appearing over the trees.


	12. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The helicopter picks them up just outside the dilapidated building. With the few of his brain cells that aren’t completely zeroed in on David’s warm, solid, alive weight next to him, Patrick is in awe of Alexis and her ability to just make things happen anywhere and everywhere. They’re in the middle of a jungle with the entire island’s communication system down and she somehow gets not only a helicopter out here, but what looks like an entire security team.
> 
> They climb in. It’s a tight fit with Barry’s group and the five-person security team, but they manage to squeeze in - Alexis on Ted’s lap and David on Patrick’s.
> 
> As they rise into the air, Patrick sees a wide swathe of trampled jungle marking the tyrannosaurus’s path away from the building. Any other time and he’d have been fascinated by this evidence of the dinosaur’s movements. But now, his entire attention is taken up by the man in his lap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay with this chapter folks! This was the chapter that needed the most work and it happened to coincide with a marking deadline and my first week back teaching. 
> 
> Only the epilogue left now! It's almost ready to go but I'm experimenting with some work skins for it so depending on how cooperative technology is being for me, that will up either tomorrow or Monday! 
> 
> Thanks again to everyone reading - you're all the best!

The helicopter picks them up just outside the dilapidated building. With the few of his brain cells that aren’t completely zeroed in on David’s warm, solid, _alive_ weight next to him, Patrick is in awe of Alexis and her ability to just make things happen anywhere and everywhere. They’re in the middle of a jungle with the entire island’s communication system down and she somehow gets not only a helicopter out here, but what looks like an entire security team.

They climb in. It’s a tight fit with Barry’s group and the five-person security team, but they manage to squeeze in - Alexis on Ted’s lap and David on Patrick’s.

As they rise into the air, Patrick sees a wide swathe of trampled jungle marking the tyrannosaurus’s path away from the building. Any other time and he’d have been fascinated by this evidence of the dinosaur’s movements. But now, his entire attention is taken up by the man in his lap.

David is a mess. Emotionally and physically. His beautiful skin is covered in ugly bruises that make Patrick flush hot with anger. A fine trembling is running through his entire body as he clings to Patrick and he’s still breathing like he’s on the verge of a panic attack. All Patrick wants to do is get David behind a closed door where he can be _safe_ and then spend the next year not letting him out of his sight.

Patrick’s throat feels tight and there’s a burning behind his eyes that he ruthlessly tries to suppress. This isn’t about him - David needs him and he can’t fall apart right now. Patrick just holds on as tight as he dares and watches as the island unfurls below them.

Sooner than he expected, they’re passing over the main promenade. Patrick can see their hotel and the giant triangular pavilion that serves as the centrepiece of the park. It’s all deserted - the huge crowds that had filled the streets a few hours ago gone as if they’d never been there.

“Do you know if everyone got out okay?” Stevie asks into the headsets they were given when they boarded the helicopter.

One of the security team looks back at them. “It’s going to be a while before we know for sure. We’re confident we’ve completely evacuated the main park. But we’re not sure at this point if anyone else is lost somewhere else on the island.”

Patrick doesn’t hear Stevie’s response because David is suddenly shifting in his lap. Before Patrick can stop him, he leans over to look out the window and then immediately buries his face back into Patrick’s chest with a whimper.

“I know, sweetheart. I’m sorry - this the fastest way out of here,” Patrick murmurs, running his fingers through David’s lank hair. Seeing his hair and clothes so filthy hurts almost as much as the sight of the bruises on his skin. It’s another sign of everything David has been through. Everything Patrick couldn’t save him from.

“Where are we going?” he asks into the headset, directing his attention to a man from the security team sitting across from him.

The man flicks on the microphone in his own headset. “The Masrani Corporation owns another island about fifty miles to the west. We’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

“Why aren’t we going to the mainland?” Patrick asks, curling his arms protectively around David. “He needs medical attention.”

“We have a doctor waiting,” the man replies. “And you all need to be debriefed. Especially him,” he says, nodding at David. “The Masrani Corporation needs to figure out what happened here.”

“I’d think that was a job for the cops,” Patrick responds icily. He doesn’t exactly trust the motivations of a huge corporation and he’s not letting anyone else get their hands on David.

“They’re waiting for us too,” Ted interrupts from behind Patrick. “The FBI and Interpol are all over this but don’t worry. I won’t let them ‘badge’-er you too much!”

Barry and Alexis both nod in agreement but it’s the return of Ted’s horrible puns that sets Patrick at ease. Ted had stopped making them during their journey through the pipe and hearing them again does more than anything else to reassure Patrick that they’re safe now.

Not that he’s going to let his guard down. Burying his head in David’s sweaty hair, he breathes in deep and makes a silent promise that he’s not going to leave his side until they’re back safe in their cottage - in their home.

* * *

When they finally stumble into their new hotel room hours later, Patrick is almost delirious with exhaustion and he’s the only thing keeping David on his feet.

The man on the helicopter hadn’t lied. There had been a doctor waiting as soon as they landed and she’d quickly rushed David (and Patrick who hadn’t been willing to leave David’s side) into a private examination room. The sight of David’s bruised and battered torso had twisted at Patrick’s stomach until he’d had to fight not to be sick. But his knees had almost given out in relief when the doctor pronounced that David’s injuries, while painful, were superficial and should heal completely.

The emotional injuries might take a bit longer. Patrick had sat by David’s side, silent and seething, as he’d gone through his ordeal for the FBI. And then Interpol. And then the FBI again. And then the Masrani Corporation’s private investigator. By the time they’d finally been released, Patrick had been ready to start throwing punches if it meant he could get David out of there. Hearing about violent men with guns and their hands all over his husband was bad enough, but watching David tell the story, pale and shaking and still so brave, had felt like Patrick’s heart was being flayed open.

But they were alone now. A locked door, armed guards and eighty kilometres of ocean separating them from carnivorous dinosaurs and armed mercenaries. Stevie, Alexis, and Ted were safe next door, having opted to give Patrick and David their space for the night. And now, _finally_ , Patrick could take care of his husband.

Taking David’s hand, Patrick leads him into the room’s luxurious bathroom. He ignores the tub big enough for two, instead turning David around and unbuttoning his now-unsalvageable Givenchy sweater.

“Looks like we’ll be bumping up your yearly sweater budget a bit,” Patrick jokes weakly as he strips the sweater off and winces at the ugly bruises around David’s wrists where he’d struggled against the tape binding them. Sometimes Patrick hates his vivid imagination - he can’t stop picturing David, scared and alone and struggling to free himself. Can’t stop seeing David as he’d been when they’d found him, huddled terrified on the ground, seconds away from ...

“We’ll be bumping up my sweater budget by a LOT,” responds David, unknowingly saving Patrick from the horrifying spiral of his thoughts. But David’s attempt at his usual imperious tone is belied by the exhaustion in his voice and the tight, desperate grip he has on Patrick’s shoulders.

Patrick leans forward and gently brushes his lips against David’s. He brings their foreheads together and takes a deep breath. David is here. He’s alive. “Okay, David.” Brushing another soft kiss to David’s cheek, Patrick tucks his fingers up under his husband’s white t-shirt and carefully peels it up to reveal a broad, familiar chest covered in the thick, dark hair Patrick loves so much.

He can’t help himself then, running gentle fingers across beautiful skin now marred by too many cuts and bruises to count. Patrick has to stop for a second and breathe when he sees a bruise on David’s lower back. A bruise shaped like a footprint. Then he’s surging up, pressing all his love, all his worry, all his _terror_ into his husband’s lips.

David responds in kind, kissing back with helpless desperation. Patrick lets himself linger - soaking in the overwhelming relief of having David back in his arms and under his lips. A soft whimper when Patrick’s fingers brush too heavily over a bruise is what finally makes him draw back. David chases his lips but Patrick holds his shoulders in a gentle grip. “Let’s get you clean, okay, David?”

Wide eyes stare at him for a long second before David nods. “Yes. Clean … clean would … that would be better.” Something in David’s voice tugs at Patrick’s heart.

“Clean and then you can sleep, sweetheart.” Patrick steps away for a second and turns on the shower. When he turns back, David’s eyes are on him, looking at him with a gratitude that Patrick doesn’t deserve. Especially after today. After what he let happen to his husband. Patrick drops his gaze, shame rushing through him, and focuses on the complicated clasp of David’s pants. He’s an old hand at removing them these days, but he seems to have developed a tremor in his fingers that’s making the job harder than it should be.

Eventually, he gets the clasps undone and gently works David’s pants and underwear down his legs before quickly stripping himself. David can barely keep himself upright, leaning heavily against the sink, eyes drifting shut. But Patrick knows his husband. Knows how uncomfortable he must feel covered in mud and blood and god knows what else.

He checks the water and adjusts it slightly, making sure it's at David’s preferred temperature before guiding his husband under the warm spray. David lets out a small moan and drops his head onto Patrick’s shoulder. They sway together for a few minutes, letting the gentle fall of water wash away the worst of the day’s terror. Patrick runs his hands gently up David’s broad back and drops a lingering kiss on the side of his neck - a spot he’d been worried he’d never get to touch again.

David is shaking again - fine tremors running through his long limbs. Patrick just holds him closer and lets the moment linger - the steam creating a hushed, intimate atmosphere that he doesn’t want to break. But he has to eventually - David is beyond exhausted and Patrick needs to get him clean so they can both sleep and finally end this godawful day. Not that Patrick thinks he’s going to be able to get to sleep very easily, even as tired as he is. His brain can’t stop replaying the scene he’d stumbled upon as he raced up the stairs after their long journey through the drainage pipe. And every time he remembers the look on David’s face - that wide, pale, shocked terror - Patrick’s gut clenches.

He pulls back and David lets him go with a small whimper. “Not going anywhere, baby. I’m just going to wash your hair, okay?”

David nods - eyes never leaving Patrick - like he can’t bear to let him out of his sight. With great care, Patrick grabs the bottle of shampoo. He wishes he could have gone back to their hotel room for their things before being evacuated. The toiletries their new hotel provided are high quality, but David is so particular about what he uses on his body and Patrick wants to give him that tonight.

David doesn’t seem to mind though, closing his eyes and leaning his head back with a small moan as Patrick’s fingers massage the shampoo into his hair. There’s no part of David’s body that Patrick doesn’t love but his hair holds a special fascination. Maybe it’s because of how central it is to David’s look. Or maybe it’s because Patrick is only allowed to touch it in private moments like this. Either way, working his fingers through David’s thick hair feels incredibly intimate.

He doesn’t let himself indulge for too long - David is swaying on his feet again and Patrick wants to get him into bed before he passes out in the shower. He runs through the rest of their shower routine as efficiently as he can while still carefully avoiding the bruises peppered over David’s chest, back, and face. David lets Patrick move him like a puppet, exhaustion finally overwhelming the last of the day’s adrenaline and leaving him loose-limbed and clingy.

When David is clean, Patrick runs a perfunctory cloth over his own body, cleaning himself well enough that they’ll both feel comfortable when they crawl under the covers. He shuts the water off, steam filling the small bathroom as he gets them both dry. But when he goes to reach for the pile of soft clothing Alexis asked the hotel staff to put in each of their rooms, David stops him with a hand on his arm.

Patrick looks back at David’s eyes - trained on him and filled with tears. “I … I was so … so scared I was never …” he chokes out, hand gripping desperately at Patrick who moves without a thought to wrap David back up in his arms.

“But you did. You made it, David,” he whispers into the hush of the steamy bathroom.

David pulls back to look at him again, a determined look breaking through his exhaustion. “Because you found me.”

Patrick wants to refuse - he didn’t _do_ anything - rescuing David was all Alexis and Ted and the team of park employees who put their lives at risk. Patrick spent the entire day doing nothing but following along and falling apart at the seams. But he can’t put any of that on David who’s looking at him like he hung the moon. “And you kept yourself alive long enough for us to find you.”

From the look that passes through David’s eyes before he turns his face away, Patrick can tell it’s going to take some time before he believes him. But that’s okay - they have time now. They’re safe and they have time.

Later, when they’re both dressed in soft clothes and tangled together under the blankets, it occurs to him that maybe he should be as generous with himself. But he’s asleep before he can chase the thought down.

* * *

They sleep past noon, a long, deep rest that’s thankfully uninterrupted by nightmares. And even once they’re awake, it’s a long time before they push themselves out of bed. It takes a barrage of increasingly impatient texts from Stevie to finally get Patrick up. David takes a bit longer, his muscles having tightened up overnight and the bruises on his back blooming dark purple and black.

But by the time Stevie and Alexis show up at their door, they’re both up, the remains of a surprisingly delicious room service brunch scattered around them on the bed.

Patrick expects both women to throw themselves at David as soon as they’re in the room so he’s surprised by the two tight hugs he’s given first. Apparently, he’s not the only one feeling clingy this morning.

“Where’s Ted?” he asks, sitting down at the end of the bed, Stevie and Alexis settling themselves on either side of his husband. David looks shyly pleased, one hand gripping Stevie while Alexis clings to his other arm.

“Ugh, they started calling him so early this morning,” Alexis says. “Like, we barely even had a chance to sleep after we, well, you know.”

“Ew,” David says, but there’s no bite in his voice. “So you two are ....?”

Alexis looks abashed. Or, as abashed as Alexis ever looks. “Yes? I mean, I think so?” She shifts so she can meet David’s gaze. “That’s actually the whole reason I invited you this weekend.”

“What?! Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I was embarrassed, David! Like, I made such a big deal of wanting to do all this alone instead of just following some guy around the world again. And, like, if I get back together with Ted, is that just me giving up?”

“Alexis -”

“And so I wanted to bring you here so you could _see_ the work I’m doing. And the work Ted is doing. And then you could help me figure if I’m just doing what I always do and throwing everything away for some guy.”

David’s eyes are soft as he watches his sister. Patrick glances at Stevie but she’s just watching the two Roses, an unreadable expression on her face. David opens his mouth to respond but Alexis just barrels over him again.

“But then you almost died! Like, you actually almost _died_. For real. And it would have been all my fault. I’m sorry, David, I -”

“Okay, enough,” David cuts her off. “So, first, I’m pretty sure we can lay the blame for all this on the evil people with guns who sabotaged a park full of innocent people. While your survival skills can be both terrifying and shockingly efficient, I hardly think you could single-handedly take on a group of armed mercenaries.”

Patrick can see from Alexis and Stevie’s faces that it’s going to be a long while before any of them fully believe that.

But David’s not done. “As for Ted,” he pauses, rolling his eyes and sighing - a sure sign he’s about to say something he considers embarrassingly emotional. “You … deserve to be happy, Alexis. And if getting back together with Ted makes you happy, then I have no doubt you can figure out how to make that work without giving up any of the incredible things you’re doing in New York.”

Alexis’s whole face melts into a vulnerable, almost shy, smile. Patrick knows his own face must be bordering on what Stevie calls his ‘gross, sappy cow eyes,’ but he can’t help it. David and Alexis went for so long without ever talking about anything serious. Long enough that it still doesn’t come naturally to either of them. But seeing them like this, both trying so hard, just brings home how far they’ve come. David even allows Alexis to boop his nose twice before waving his hand at her like she’s an annoying fly.

And it’s clear something’s settled between the two of them as Alexis moves to rest her head against David’s shoulder. It hasn’t been easy for David to adjust to living apart from his family again - something else to add to the guilt eating away at Patrick’s stomach. Patrick knows his husband is terrified of moving backward. Of returning to a time and place when he only saw his family for major holidays and mandatory public appearances. But, as he watches David drop his head to rest his cheek on Alexis’s hair, Patrick thinks that’s one anxiety that might drop away after this trip.

Thank god, because there’s going to be a whole bunch of new ones they’re all going to be adding to the pile.

“Wait,” Stevie says, “who was calling Ted so early? I wouldn’t think there’d be much need for a veterinarian right now?”

“Ugh,” Alexis says, sitting up and tossing her hair over her shoulder. “It was the owners of the park - they keep blowing up my phone too, but it’s like, I don’t work for you and your park almost murdered my brother yesterday. So, like, maybe I’m not super interested in doing your public relations anymore?”

“That’s what they’re focused on right now?” Patrick asks, incredulous. “Do they even know if everyone got off the island okay?”

“That’s like the worst part!” Alexis says, hands bouncing in front of her. “At least twenty people are _still missing_ and the executives in New York spent the whole day yesterday trying to keep this quiet. The FBI and the media and everyone didn’t even know anything was wrong until the first ferry got to the mainland and everyone started tweeting about it!”

“Twenty people are still missing?” Stevie asks in a small voice.

“I know!” Alexis says. “And they’re like still playing it off as a minor security issue - no one has even mentioned all the evil guys with guns who were running around!”

Stevie looks pale and Patrick can’t blame her. He’d known it was likely that people got hurt yesterday - you can’t set a bunch of carnivorous dinosaurs loose on an island filled with tourists without there being some casualties. But it’s different knowing it’s not just theoretical.

“Well then, we’re not going to let them get away with that.”

Patrick turns to his husband, startled. David’s words aren’t a surprise but the strength and certainty behind them are. It’s the first time since yesterday morning that David’s sounded like himself and Patrick’s so relieved to hear it he almost starts crying.

“Yes, David!” Alexis says with a small clap.

“Yeah, we can’t let them reopen the park again,” Stevie says, still in that small voice. “Otherwise a bunch of _idiots_ are going to keep coming here and something like this is just going to happen all over again.”

“If you’re calling them idiots for being interested in seeing murder lizards, I completely agree,” David says. “But if you’re calling them idiots for coming to a park that they should be able to trust, then I think we need to put the blame where it belongs.”

Stevie bites her lip, staring at the bedspread like it holds the secret to the universe. God, they’re all going to need _so much_ therapy after this, Patrick thinks.

David obviously sees the guilt weighing on Stevie as clearly as Patrick does. He tugs gently on the hand he’s holding, nudging her to look over at him. “Stevie, you being excited to come here to see dinosaurs makes you a _dork_. It doesn’t make you responsible for a major disaster. And believe me, I will be making _very good_ use of that information because wow, you’re a nerd.” A smile is playing on Stevie’s lips as she looks up at David and Patrick really shouldn’t be surprised - those two can read each other in a way he’s never been able to understand. “But you don’t get to blame yourself for this. If only because that makes it harder for me to be fucking pissed at the people who _actually_ did this to me. I mean, I lost a Givenchy sweater and my second-favourite pair of Rick Owens!”

“Good to know you have your priorities in order,” Stevie replies, the guilt she’s been wearing replaced with her usual deadpan snark.

“Thank you - they are. And besides, I’d much rather hear all about Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome you were all over in the helicopter yesterday,” David says with a wide, annoying grin and an only somewhat subdued shoulder shimmy.

“Ugh, you’re the worst. I don’t know why I’m friends with you,” Stevie says as she lays her head on David’s shoulder.

David looks up and meets Patrick’s eyes with a soft smile. He looks safe and happy, Alexis and Stevie cuddled up at his sides and, for a few minutes, Patrick lets himself believe they’re all going to be okay.

* * *

Alexis and Stevie stay until David’s eyes start to droop again. They leave with promises to return with dinner and news about when they can head home. Over David’s sleepy protests, Patrick gets them curled up under the blankets where they both drop quickly back into sleep.

Patrick’s not sure how much time has passed when he pries his eyes back open but it feels like hours. His mouth is dry and his eyes feel heavy. But there’s a head of dark hair on his chest and long fingers curled around his own and that’s all that he needs.

And he almost let it slip out of his fingers. The guilt that had faded with the laughter and lightness of the past few hours roars back into his chest. He’s not sure how long he lies there stewing in it but David’s pained moan as he wakes up only makes it worse.

“Hey baby,” Patrick murmurs, “I’m going to check if it’s time for more painkillers, okay?”

“No,” David says, “not yet. It’s not that bad right now.” Lifting his head, he meets Patrick’s gaze, a surprising heat in his eyes. “Besides, I want to be clear-headed for the next little while.” Then he bends back down and licks over Patrick’s nipple.

Patrick gasps, his hips jerking up. “David, you’re hurt,” he protests, “we can’t.”

“Not hurting right now.” David closes his lips over the nipple he’s been licking and sucks, tongue teasing the tip with maddening slowness. Patrick struggles to keep his head clear, David’s talented tongue making that very difficult.

“But, David -”

David raises his head again, concern in his eyes. “Hey, if you don’t want to, that’s okay.”

“Not wanting to is not the problem, David. Trust me. I just don’t want to hurt you …”

“Then don’t,” David says, a smirk spreading over his face. “Remember when you overdid it on that hike and you were so sore you could barely move?”

Fuck, yes. Patrick remembers very clearly how David had laid him on his back and told him not to move before swallowing his cock and making Patrick’s brain melt out of his ears.

“I seem to recall something like that,” Patrick says, the knot in his stomach loosening as they slide into familiar banter. He licks his lips, watching with satisfaction as David’s eyes follow the movement, his mouth falling open slightly. “Yeah, you want my mouth, baby?” David nods, pushing himself forward. Patrick stops him with a hand in his hair, gently tugging him backward. “Lie back, David. Let me take care of you.”

David goes easily, letting Patrick arrange him on his back, a small wince the only indication of the bruises painting his torso black and blue. Kneeling beside him, Patrick quickly strips off his t-shirt and sweatpants before leaning over. He supports himself on his arms and knees, careful to keep his weight off of David and brings their lips together in a slow, sweet kiss. He takes his time, mapping David’s mouth with his tongue and chasing the familiar taste he’d been so worried he’d never experience again.

When David is moaning underneath him and Patrick can feel his hips moving in futile little circles, he pulls himself away. Working himself down David’s body, he drops kisses and gentle bites on every patch of unblemished skin he can find.

“Patrick, oh my god, baby, your _mouth_ ,” David babbles, hands over his face.

Patrick smirks into the skin where he’s sucking a bruise into David’s hipbone. “Yeah, tell me, David. Where do you want it?” He turns his head and breathes over David’s cock, hot and hard and only inches away.

David whines and jerks his hips up. “Please, Patrick … baby, want your mouth on my cock … want you …”

“Shhh, baby, I’ve got you,” Patrick says, for once not wanting to make David wait. He wants to feel David fall apart underneath him, wants to feel him let go. He kisses his way over David’s hip and licks at the base of his shaft.

“God … Patrick …” David moans above him and Patrick is suddenly desperate to have him in his mouth. He licks a long stripe up David’s shaft, sucking gently on the head before opening up and swallowing David in one long, smooth slide. He has a brief flash of the first time he’d tried this and how kind David had been when Patrick had spent the next five minutes coughing and hacking. These days, while it might not be a skill he can put on his resume, Patrick’s pretty damn proud of his cocksucking abilities.

David seems to agree, moaning deep in his throat, hands dropping down to Patrick’s head and twitching in his hair. And fuck, yes, that’s what Patrick wants. Wants to _feel_ this. Feel David filling him up, taking what he needs. He looks up, one hand coming up to cover David’s and tightening into a fist. David meets his eyes and gently tugs Patrick’s hair, a question in his eyes. Patrick nods as well as he can with David’s cock in his mouth and moans once for good measure.

It doesn’t take any more than that. David’s hands tighten in his hair and drag him up, almost pulling him all the way off. Patrick lets his throat relax and then David’s pushing _in,_ filling his throat and making his eyes water in the best possible way.

“Fuck, god, Patrick, your fucking mouth. You’re so fucking hot and tight, baby. So good for me.” The combination of the filth falling from David’s lips and his hands moving Patrick’s head where he wants him is everything Patrick didn’t know he needed. He squeezes his eyes shut and lets himself be used, the constant refrain of guilt and recrimination that had been playing in his head since he’d heard David’s scream over the phone finally replaced by blissful blank static.

David isn’t gentle, almost like he knows how much Patrick needs this, fucking into his mouth will long, deep strokes, moans and filthy praise falling from his lips. Patrick’s cock is throbbing between his legs but it feels like an afterthought compared to David, hard and hot in his throat.

Suddenly, David’s hands are tightening in his hair. “Fuck, Patrick, I’m going to come, baby, so good.” Patrick moans and that’s all it takes, David shooting down his throat, hips stuttering as he rides out his orgasm. Patrick swallows around him, drawing it out and relishing the feeling of David falling apart underneath him.

When David’s hips finally still, Patrick lets his cock fall out of his mouth and nuzzles into his hip. The throbbing in his own cock is growing too insistent to be ignored and his hips jerk forward involuntarily into David’s leg, a whine slipping out of his mouth.

David’s fingers tighten in his hair once again, Patrick’s scalp tender and sore in a way that goes straight to his cock. “Yeah, Patrick, come on, get yourself off just like that, baby.”

Patrick groans desperately and obeys, rubbing himself along David’s leg as his husband’s fingers play in his hair and along his jaw. He feels overwhelmed, surrounded by David’s body. His scent. His taste. One more rough tug in his hair and the tight knot that’s been in Patrick’s stomach for the past twenty-four hours unravels all at once and he’s coming with a shocked shout, his orgasm so intense it’s almost painful.

David pets him through it, hands in his hair and voice washing over Patrick like a warm blanket. It’s only after, with his cock softening against David’s thigh and their hands clasped together that Patrick realizes he’s crying.

“Shh, honey,” he hears David croon as his hand comes around the nape of Patrick’s neck and tugs him gently upwards. He collapses next to David and buries his head in the crook of his neck, careful to avoid the worst of the bruising.

“I’m sorry, David,” he chokes out between sobs. “I … I should have …”

David’s hand slides around to Patrick’s jaw and tilts his head up. His expression contains nothing but love and concern. The recrimination Patrick’s been heaping on himself is nowhere to be found. “Sorry for what, honey? Because if you’re feeling guilty that you didn’t single-handedly fight a _tyrannosaurus rex_ for me …” he trails off with a significant look.

All of a sudden, Patrick’s sobs turn into laughter, the true ridiculousness of the past day washing over him. His husband had almost been _eaten by a dinosaur_. On vacation. And then he’d been _kidnapped by armed mercenaries_. Patrick spent last weekend being harassed by Ronnie at the Ontario Small Business Association dinner and this weekend he’d gone on a _rescue mission through a dinosaur-infested jungle._

David’s laughing too - a wide, beautiful smile splitting his face. There’s a lot ahead of them - healing and more interviews and what is sure to be some interesting therapy appointments. But Alexis, Stevie, and Ted are coming over in an hour with dinner. And then they’ll go back to their home in a town in the middle of a completely dinosaur-free continent. It’s not over, but as he lies there laughing with his husband by his side, Patrick knows they’re going to be okay.


	13. The Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! The end of this weird, self-indulgent little story. I had so much fun writing this and I'm so happy other people have enjoyed it too. Thanks so much to everyone who read, commented, kudos-ed, etc!
> 
> Hope you enjoy this epistolary epilogue! This is my first time using work skins so please let me know if the formatting is messed up at all!

James Wall  
@globaltourist   
Just landed on the mainland after escaping Jurassic World! Some sort of major security malfunction - multiple dinosaurs are running loose and killing people! #jurassicworld #wheresmyrefund 05:38 PM - 17 May 2020  238  567 

Guneet Singh  
@guneetwrittes   
Jurassic World experiencing another major meltdown! My family and I barely got out alive! 05:57 PM - 17 May 2020  1567  2048 

Erin Fence  
@rocksandbones   
Seeing word start to spread about the incident at Jurassic World. I was there on my research trip and I can confirm reports of escaped dinosaurs and mass evacuations.  06:13 PM - 17 May 2020  145  684 

The Associated Press  
@AP   
We have been receiving unverified reports of an incident at the Jurassic World theme park on Isla Nublar in Costa Rica. No word yet on potential casualties. We will update as we receive more details. 06:22 PM - 17 May 2020  9753  12,575 

Dan Rossi  
@italiangrandpa   
@MasraniCorp Still no statement? My grandchildren were almost eaten today! 07:48 PM - 17 May 2020  256  478

Aarzoo  
@ancientplants   
Holy fuck! A T-Rex crashed my tour today guys! I’m okay but oh my god! 08:08 PM - 17 May 2020  779  1585

CBC News  
@CBCNews   
Several Canadians are reportedly among the tourists caught up in today’s incident at Jurassic World. 08:21 PM - 17 May 2020  3848  26,484

* * *

Mom  
  
David! The Internet is reporting that there has been some sort of calamity on the island you’ve chosen for your brief sabbatical!   
  
David, I am your mother! This is not the time to disregard my messages!   
  
Whatever reason you have for scorning my concerned missives, it must end now David!  
  
David please. We haven’t heard a word from you or Alexis.  
  
sorry mom we’re okay  
  
That’s all you deign to send to your mother who has been veritably inconsolable with apprehension?!  
  
Mrs. Rose, this is Patrick. We’re all safe, I promise.. I promise to fill you in tomorrow but it’s been a really long day and we’re exhausted. We’re okay though and we’re sending our love.   
  


Dad  
  
Alexis, honey, Tweeter is saying there’s been some sort of incident at the park you’re working for? Are you all okay?  
  
Sweetheart, your mother and I are getting worried - David’s not answering his phone either.   
  
Please be safe and let us know as soon as you can. We love you Alexis.   
  
Dad, oh my god! I’m SO sorry! My phone JUST started working again. Like, I couldn’t even text for hours! But we’re all okay, I promise. And I love you too!   
  
Oh Alexis, it’s so good to hear from you sweetheart. Are you somewhere safe now?   
  
We are! We’re in a super cute little hotel on another island. We’re probably going to be here for a little while thought because the FBI has like SO MANY questions. Especially for David and Ted.  
THE FBI?   
WAIT ALEXIS   
WHAT IS GOING ON   
I’M STUCK ON ALL CAPS AGAIN BUT WHY DOES DAVID NEED TO TALK TO THE FBI   
AND WHERE DID TED COME FROM   
ALEXIS   
  


* * *

whytneylang **6743** likes  
Jurassic World is a death trap! I went for a relaxing weekend - which I desperately needed after having photoshoots for **five days in a row** \- and I was viciously attacked by flying monsters! Like, maybe don’t open a zoo if you can’t keep your animals in their cages?! I lost a whole chunk of hair and my favorite Gucci suitcase! Ugh! It’s going to be weeks before my hair fully recovers! View all 585 comments May 17, 2020

* * *

Barry  
  
hey stevie - i know these aren’t exactly normal circumstances, but i really like hanging out with you and i’d like to see you again if you’re into that   
i liked hanging out with you too   
  
I mean, when we weren’t hacking our way through a jungle   
  
But yes, i would be into that, yes   
  
great! It’s a date then :)   


* * *

The New York Times  
@nytimes   
The formal inquest into last month’s disaster at Jurassic World begins today. The Masrani Corporation has so far been tight-lipped about details concerning what led to the incident and are expected to offer a detailed report in today's testimony. 02:45 PM - 24 May 2020  8648  73,494 

Dino Guy  
@dinoguytweets   
Do they really expect us to believe that the whole thing was caused by some bad code? Like we all haven’t heard the stories about mysterious soldiers running around?  04:56 AM - 29 May 2020  593  9345 

BBC News (World)  
@BBCWorld   
The Masrani Corporation concludes their testimony at the Jurassic World inquest today leaving more questions than answers. No explanation was offered for reports of armed mercenaries on the island during the disaster or how a world class security system failed to protect tourists. bbc.in/4848383 05:26 PM - 15 June 2020  593  9345 

Annabelle Rex  
@tyrannowife   
I don’t know about anyone else, but that t-rex could devour me all night long! 03:14 PM - 23 June 2020  7  38 

CBC News  
@CBCNews   
As the formal inquest into Jurassic World continues, questions arise about potential sabotage and corporate espionage. cbc.ca/7323u7503 04:36 PM - 29 June 2020  839  2893 

Chuck Tingle  
@ChuckTingle   
please enjoy my newest tingler POUNDED IN THE BUTT BY A TYRANNOSAURUS THAT ESCAPED DUE TO CORPORATE NEGLIGENCE out now 09:34 AM - 07 July 2020  468  9272 

Charles McKnight  
@mcknightdesigns   
Did anyone else see the interview they did with that hot vet? I want him to fuck me so hard my ancestors feel it. 12:24 PM - 21 July 2020  58  193 

* * *

Ted  
  
Hey babe! I just landed!   
oh yay babe! I can’t wait to see you!   
  
“Eye” can’t wait to see you either!   
oh, Ted.   
  
I’m really glad we’re doing this   
  
Me too. Third time's the charm, right? I love you so much.   
I love you too  
  


* * *

CBC News  
@CBCNews   
Three former Masrani Corporation executives have been charged with negligence for their roles in the Jurassic World disaster in May.  010:11 AM - 2 September 2020  82,923  483,292 

Planet Skeptic  
@planetskeptic   
I know Masrani Corp is hiding something other than just negligence. Do we really think all the dinosaurs are still on that island. I’ve heard stories about weird animal attacks in Costa Rica.  011:45 PM - 16 September 2020  8356  39,389 

CNN  
@CNN   
Costa Rican government assures the public that the situation on Isla Nublar has been completely contained and all dinosaurs have been accounted for.  08:38 AM - 18 September 2020  97,345  257,295 

* * *

Alexis  
  
can you bring me some of that lavender lip balm next week?   
they don’t sell lip balm in New York anymore?  
  
obviously they do David! it's just not as good.   
of course it isn’t. i assume you’ll be paying for this lip balm?   
  
um, I’m giving you a place to stay for free! i think that more than makes up for a couple of lip balms.   
oh it’s a couple now, is it? and the last time you gave me a free place to stay I was almost eaten!   
  
David! that was one time!   
one time is too many times.   
I got you the lip balm   
  
yay David!   
I miss you   
I miss you too. only one more week.   
  
I love you David.   
ugh   
  
I love you too.   
  


* * *

From:xiaoling.liu@thestar.ca

Subject: Interview Request

To: david.rose@roseapothecary.ca

Dear Mr. Rose,

I am a reporter with the Toronto Star and I’m writing a series on the incident at Jurassic World and the impact on survivors. I would love to interview you as part of the piece. It would be a face-to-face interview that would last approximately an hour. Please let me know if it would be possible to set this up by November 30th. Thank you so much! I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Xiao Ling Liu

Reporter

Toronto Star 

From:david.rose@roseapothecary.ca

Subject: Re:Interview Request

To:xiaoling.liu@thestar.ca

Dear Ms. Liu,

My name is Patrick Brewer. David Rose is my husband and business partner. Thank you for your email. We are currently weighing several interview requests and we ask that you direct your inquiry to our publicist, Alexis Rose. You can reach her at alexis.rose@arcommunications.com 

Sincerely,

Patrick Brewer 

* * *

Mom  
  
Sweetheart, how’s David doing? He seemed quiet when we talked to you yesterday.   
He’s okay Mom. Just sometimes it feels like the nightmares are getting worse, not better, you know?  
  
I know, sweet boy. Trauma can be like that - sometimes people don’t let themselves feel everything until they’re safe enough.   
That’s what our therapist said too. I just feel so helpless sometimes. I want to do more.   
  
You’re doing everything you can - he just needs you to love him through this. And no one can do that better than you, my darling.   
Thanks Mom. I love you.   
  
I love you both so much, sweetheart.   


* * *

From:33kdksoele@protonmail.ch

Subject: Re: Payment

To:[redacted]

V-

I’m not going to be asking again. I lost four of my guys on that suicide mission. You promised me a payday and instead I’m sitting her with a useless stack of codes and no money. You have three weeks before my people run out of patience. 

Hoskins

* * *

David  
  
so how was your ~weekend~?   
it was fine - so kind of you to ask.  
  
fine? all i get is fine?   
i’m sorry, is there another question you’d like to ask?   
ugh you're so annoying   
fine   
how was BARRY   
barry was fine. so kind of you to ask.   
I hate you   
that’s unfortunate. should i call your husband and see if he wants to share this week i found in room 3?   
i'll bring wine   
3 bottles   


* * *

## Terror at Jurassic World: Eight Months Later 

By Xiao Ling Liu

When the news of the Jurassic World disaster first hit the Internet, we were all glued to our screens. Not only did it remind us all of those first two terrible disasters at Jurassic Park, but we had to sit and watch as reports of terror and carnage flooded in hours after it happened. 

But what was it like on the island that day? I recently had the chance to sit down with two of the Canadian survivors of the disaster, David Rose and Patrick Brewer. 

David and Patrick are married and co-own a store in Schitt’s Creek Ontario. They were visiting Jurassic World with David’s sister and a family friend. 

Interviewer: David, you’ve been at the center of a lot of the legal proceedings as the only known person to have direct contact with the saboteurs. How have you been handling everything?

David: Not well for a while there, honestly. The whole thing was so terrifying, it’s taken me some time to get back to a good place. Fortunately, my husband has been there for me every step of the way. 

Interviewer: You two were separated on the island that day, right?

Patrick: Yeah - David was on a botany tour when everything happened. Scariest day of my life until we found him. 

David: But he did. He found me. And now I know I have a husband who would brave a dinosaur-infested jungle for me. 

Interviewer: You’re the only witness to the saboteurs on the island that day, David. Do you have any theories about what they were doing there?

David: Honestly, no. And I don’t want to. All I know is that they weren’t going to hesitate to kill me and I hope I never see any of them ever again. 

[[Click to continue]](blank)

* * *

Stevie  
  
i read your gross interview   
And you were obviously deeply touched by our thrilling tale of wilderness survival?  
  
i was there. you rode in a jeep, brewer, you’re hardly bear grylis.   
but whatever. it was fine i guess.   
We love you too, Stevie.  
  
but whatever. it was fine i guess.   


* * *

## Masrani Corporation CEO sentenced to twenty years in prison for his role in Jurassic World disaster

February 5, 2021

AP - Stephen Carrington, former CEO of the now-bankrupt Masrani Corporation was sentenced to twenty years in prison today for negligence leading to last May’s disaster on Isla Nublar. Carrington was responsible for guaranteeing monthly inspections of Jurassic World and failed to uphold that responsibility for over eighteen months. 

The extent to which sabotage played a role in the disaster is yet to be determined. Several survivors have described the presence of armed saboteurs but no arrests or charges have yet been laid.

Carrington is a former InGen executive who transferred to the Masrani Corporation when it took over Jurassic World.[[read more]](blank)

* * *

David  
  
are you doing okay, honey?   
Shouldn’t that be my question?  
  
i’m pretty sure we learned in therapy that should be both of our question   
I’m okay. I just can’t stop thinking about where you were this time last year.   
  
me neither. want to take stevie up on her offer to watch the store, go home and spend the day on the couch?   
God, I love you so much.  
  
i love you too. come home.   


Patrick  
  
Hey baby - I’ll be home soon. Want me to pick up from that Thai place in Elm Grove?   
um yes please  
  
And then do want me to tie you to the bed and rim you until you’re begging for my cock?   
jesus FUCK  
  
I take it that’s a yes?   
get hoem now thnx pls   
  


* * *

Diego Vargas  
@vargas_diego   
Algo entró de nuevo en mi gallinero anoche. No se parece a ningún animal que haya visto.  02:11 AM - 09 June 2021  56  282 

Al Jazeera English  
@AJEnglish   
An increase in animal attacks in southern Costa Rica leads to renewed concerns about deforestation and climate change.  09:34 AM - 29 June 2021  484  932 

BuzzFeed News  
@BuzzFeedNews   
Why are animal attacks on the rise in Central America? Is this just a natural cycle or could this be the start of something more sinister?  01:45 PM - 05 July 2021  46,393  938,373 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Spanish was written from a mix of Duolingo-learned Spanish and Google translate so please let me know if I've messed it up at all!   
> Translation: Something got into my chicken coop last night. It doesn't look like any animal I've ever seen.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Tumblr [@redwineandqueer](https://redwineandqueer.tumblr.com/).


End file.
